Possible Justice
by NoDrogs
Summary: Crossover of Kim Possible, Young Justice, and G.I. Joe Renegades. Watch what happens when a redhead meets up with a green-skinned woman.
1. A Possible recruit

Disclaimer:

I do not own Kim Possible or related characters, they belong to Disney.

I do not own Young Justice or related characters, they belong to DC.

All appearances in this fanfic are for non-profit purposes. Please do not sue.

Prologue:

"It's too soon."

"With respect, Master Bruce, that is an opinion felt by every parent." Alfred ignored the glare, the one that sent most villains running and could make even Superman back down. Instead, he continued dusting. "I did say that a meeting between Master Grayson and his peers would best be done in a more informal environment."

"It's not like I could have invited them here." said Batman. He strode around the cave, pacing. "I'm losing control."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "Very good, sir, I'm sure no parent of a teenager has ever said that before. May I remind you that you are the one in charge of assigning these 'Young Justice Leaguers' their missions? That you were the one to maneuver the Red Tornado to live with them, because you could trust him to report to you without Miss Martian's telepathy discovering it?"

"Damn it, Alfred, I had a plan!" snarled Batman. "Introduce Robin to the metas. Get him used to interacting with them. Then bring him along with me on some league missions. Let him see how I interact with metas on missions. Eventually bring him on to his own team."

"Master Grayson is a remarkable youth, sir." Alfred said, calmly. "You should not be surprised that he seems to have leapfrog several stages in your plan, especially when it is a plan you have not fully discussed with him."

"He's not ready." said Batman. "He doesn't know how to work in a team, as equals. None of them do."

"Then perhaps what you need to do is find them an equal." said Alfred. "Someone used to working with others, who won't treat them as... what's the word? Ah, yes... sidekicks."

Batman halted in pacing, freezing in place. Not even his cape moved for several seconds as he considered Alfred's words. Alfred merely waited, used to Batman's habits. He was not surprised when Batman did move, heading toward the massive computer that filled a large section of the main cave room.

Batman worked smoothly, typing in search parameters. The main screen filled with names, then one by one the names vanished as Batman fed in additional parameters. Finally, only one name was left.

"Her?" Alfred said, raising an eyebrow.

"She's within their age range." said Batman. "With her demonstrated abilities, she won't hold the group back. She's used to working with a partner, but she's also been on plenty of solo missions. She's trustworthy."

"Very good, sir." said Alfred. "I assume you will be wanting to be contacting the young lady in question directly? As Master Grayson puts it, 'beep' her?"

"Yes, Alfred." said Batman. "Let's 'beep' Kim Possible."

* * *

Chapter 1:

Kim was just clearing out her locker, looking forward to summer vacation, when the computer built into her locker turned on. "Hey, Wade." said Kim. "What's the sitch?"

At first glance, Kim Possible was an ordinary teenage girl. More athletic then most, but easily understandable since she was on the Middleton cheer-leading squad. Red hair framed a face that was cute without being overwhelmingly beautiful. Large, green eyes set above a slightly upturned nose, face still showing a trace of baby fat despite the athletic curves of her body. However, spending any amount of time with Kim would convince even the most jaded observer that Kim wasn't normal. She was smart, easily within the top ten percent of the population, but it wasn't just that. She was athletic, but there were many athletic people. What set Kim apart was her unique Kim-Ness; an ability to face any challenge and overcome it.

It was that ability that had attracted Wade to her. Wade knew he was smarter then Kim, at least as far as any IQ test went. But while Wade was often paralyzed by bouts of agoraphobia, preferring to keep most people at virtual arms length, Kim didn't let anything stop her.

"You're not going to believe this." said Wade. "It's him."

"Who?" said Kim. "Which him? Drakken?"

"No... HIM." Wade held his hands up to the sides of his head, miming large pointed ears, as he stared into his web-cam.

"Oh... him." said Kim. "What's this about?"

"He wants to recruit you."

Kim paused, staring at the monitor, waiting for some sign that Wade was joking. When none came from the young boy, Kim spoke. "He wants to WHAT?"

Several hours later, Kim was standing on the roof of Middleton High School. She glanced down at her watch, making sure it was the time Wade had said Batman had specified.

"Good evening, Kim Possible."

Kim jerked her head up, in surprise. Standing in front of her, less then three feet away, was him. Batman. The legendary dark knight, the only non-meta of the original founding Justice League members. The only other people Kim knew who could get that close to Kim without Kim realizing it were Shego and Yori.

"Who did you take ninja lessons from?" Kim demanded.

"Several people." said Batman. His voice was a low growl, as if he had to force himself to speak. "How much did Wade pass on to you?"

"Just that you wanted to recruit me for some branch of the Justice League." said Kim. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I don't see why you came to me. I don't wear a mask and cape."

"I don't ware this mask for myself. I wear it to protect those around me. The villains you have so far faced have a code; a sense of morals that, no matter how twisted, keep them from going after your loved ones. The villains I face would gladly bathe themselves in the blood of my loved ones if they knew who I was."

"So who are you?" demanded Kim.

"I... am... BATMAN!" His cape flared out, blocking out the background and drawing attention to the bright yell silhouette framed on his chest.

"Seriously, over-dramatic much?" Kim asked. She waited a moment, waiting to see if Batman would say anything in response. The only response was his cape settling back down around his shoulders and his eyes narrowing slightly more. Somehow, the slits in his mask kept her from being able to tell what color his eyes were. "That still doesn't explain why you want me."

"The current members of the team are Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, and two other members you probably wouldn't know." said Batman, still in that growl. "Superboy, an unauthorized clone of Superman, who was grown in a lab while information was telepathically implanted into his brain. Miss Martian, the cousin of the Martian Manhunter."

"Well, there you go." said Kim. "You've already got the two minorities I'd represent: a non-Meta and a girl."

"Wrong." said Batman. "None of the five have real world experience in working by themselves, without a senior partner."

"Who's in charge of this team?" said Kim.

"I'm the primary contact between them and the main Justice League." said Batman. "I have final approval of missions. Red Tornado is the senior 'mentor', living in the team's HQ. Black Canary and possibly some other League members will provide additional training for the other members. However, the group is separate from the main Justice League. Command structure is something you would have to work out among yourselves."

Kim shook her head. "Look, I'm flattered, but..."

"Meet the team." said Batman. "Consider what I'm asking."

Kim frowned. "You're asking me to work with metas. I mean, a Superman clone... does he have all of Superman's powers? How can I keep up with that?"

"He only has some of Superman's powers." said Batman. "As for keeping up... I thought you were Kim Possible, the girl who can do anything. That IS what it says on your website, after all."

"I have GOT to get that changed." Kim muttered. "Fine, when can I meet them?"

Batman reached down, touching something on his utility belt. "Is now good?" he asked.

A dark, sharply-angled shape dropped down from the clouds, hovering next to the school building. Once still, Kim realized it was a VTOL jet, one painted jet black. Its angular shape was obviously intended to be both aerodynamic and stealthy. The wing tips were rounded and two angular projections extended past the nose of the aircraft, making it from below vaguely resemble the symbol Batman wore on his chest. A canopy slid back, revealing two empty seats.

"I call shotgun." Kim said.

Kim frowned, arms crossed in the back of the Batwing's cockpit. The canopy had been opaqued, leaving Batman flying on instruments alone. The controls in the back of the plan had been deactivated. "I'm not allowed to see where we're going?" she demanded.

"We're going to the Young Justice League's headquarters." Batman responded. "If you agree to join, you will be told the location them. If you decide otherwise, there's no point to you knowing."

"You know, my mom could recommend someone if you wanted to get that paranoia treated."

Batman said nothing, leaving Kim to wait in silence. "Oh yeah." said Kim. "This is just going to be a barrel of laughs, working with you. Does Robin have a sense of humor?"

"Yes."

Kim waited, but Batman seemed content to leave it at that.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we... -"

"No."

Kim leaned back, glaring up at the opaque canopy, regretting her decision to go along with this.

"We're here."

Kim sat up. Still on instruments, Batman set the Batwing on VTOL, holding it still and then slowly maneuvering into what Kim assumed was a hanger. Only when the plane had been parked for several minutes did the canopy turn transparent and open.

Kim stood up, looking around. The Batwing was parked in the middle of a large stone cavern, lit by electrical lights overhead. One section of the stone wall was outfitted with hydraulics, obviously the entrance the plane had entered by. The Batwing was parked to one side of the hanger, an odd looking red and black egg-like device in the other half of the hanger.

"Hi. You must be Kim."

Kim turned to spot a young girl standing by the batwing. Like Kim, she had red hair, but her skin was bright green. She was dressed in a pleated skirt, white top, and an open red jacket. "And you must be Miss Martian." said Kim.

"That's right. But please, call me M'gann, or Megan." The green skinned girl floated up, until she was level with Kim. She reached out a hand. "Welcome to the Justice Cave."

"Wait." said Kim. "You can levitate, you are going to be working with teenage boys, and that's what you plan to wear around them?"

"Is there something wrong with it?" Megan said, looking down at herself. With a mental though, her clothing changed to a copy of Kim's clothing, her top shrinking to expose her belly and her skirt morphing into a pair of cargo pants.

"Wait, your clothing...Are you naked?" Kim asked.

"Of course not!" said Megan, her face flushing. Kim was startled as Megan's cheeks actually turned from green to red for a second. "My clothes are a product of Martian technology, like my ship. They respond to my thoughts."

"Oh." Kim looked around for a way down from the Batwing.

"Here, let me help." Megan gestured and Kim felt an invisible force gently grip her body, lifting her up. With a thought, Megan guided both Kim and herself safely down to the stone floor. Batman simply jumped down, landing in a crouch to absorb the impact.

"So, where are the others?" Kim asked, once she felt Megan's telekinesis release her.

"Right now Superboy and Red Tornado are the only ones here. Red Tornado is recharging, but I can go introduce you to Superboy. The others will be here soon."

Megan led Kim and Batman through a metal corridor. A door had obviously been repainted black, with a red S symbol painted on the door. Megan reached out, knocking on the door.

The door slid aside, to reveal what appeared to be a boy of about Kim's age, with unruly black hair and light blue eyes. He was dressed in jeans and a black shirt, featuring the same red 'S' symbol that was on the door. "What is it?" he demanded.

"This is Kim Possible." said Megan. "Kim, this is Superboy."

"Pleased to meet you."

"I'm busy." Superboy said, pressing a button by the door. The black door panel slid shut.

"Superboy is trying to familiarize himself with teenage culture." said Megan, in explanation. "Right now, he's listening to various popular music groups. Fortunately, I convinced him to use headphones."

"But, he wasn't wearing headphones." Kim protested.

"He's got really great ears." Megan explained, then turned. "Batman, should... he was just here!"

Kim turned. Like Megan, she was startled to realize that she was alone with the Martian girl, Batman having seemingly vanished into thin air. Megan frowned, concentrating. "He's... in the hanger. He's going to be preparing the Batwing in case you want to leave after meeting the others." Megan said. She blinked. "He just severed the mental link with me. I didn't know humans could do that."

Kim shrugged. "So, what else can you show me?"

"Well, there's a recreation room, with a great DVD library, and a kitchen. Do you like cooking? I was baking a batch of cookies for your arrival, but you and Batman arrived earlier then I expected."

Kim shrugged. There were other areas she'd like to see, but Megan was probably concerned with revealing too much in case Kim didn't join the team. "OK, let's go see the kitchen."

"I can't believe he'd doing this!" said Robin, angrily.

Aqualad looked at Robin, frowning. Robin had the most experienced as a sidekick, enough so that it was easy to overlook the fact that, aside from Superboy, he was the youngest member of the team. Of course, some times it was easier then others. "You are distraught?"

"You bet I am." Robin snapped. "Do you see any reason why I should be traught? I mean, the whole point of this team is that we're all former sidekicks. Now he's saddling someone new on us."

"But the reason we started this team is that we no longer wished to be sidekicks, but heroes." said Aqualad, calmly. "Should we not offer this 'Kim Possible' the same opportunity?"

"She's already a hero! And she doesn't even wear a mask!"

"I'll bet that's not all she doesn't wear." said Kid Flash. The three young teenagers were sitting in the library of the Hall of Justice, waiting to use the teleporter system to teleport to Mount Justice, the Young Justice League's headquarters. "Hey, she's a cheerleader; do you suppose any of those stories they say about cheerleaders are true?"

"I am sure we will find out soon enough." Aqualad said, calmly. He had been raised in Atlantis, so was still ignorant of many of the customs and slang of his purely air-breathing companions, but he had been taught well by his King. A true king, and also a true hero, did not show surprise. He overcame it.

"You've got a dirty mind." said Robin, glaring at Kid Flash.

"Well, yeah. It's called being a teenage boy."

"The Zeta Beam is ready." said Green Arrow. "Ready for transport?"

"We are ready." said Aqua Lad. He led the way as the three stood on the transport platform.

The zeta beam dropped the trio into the center of Mount Justice's own teleport platform. Robin glanced arround, assessing the area. "Where are they?" he asked, then went over to one of the intercom systems. "Hello? Miss Martian?"

Kim looked at the intercom. Miss Martian was busy using her telekinesis to take a pan of cookies out of the oven. Kim went over to the intercom, pressing the talk button. "This is Kim Possible. Megan and I are in the kitchen."

"Be there in a flash!" said Kid Flash. He rushed off, creating a temporary vacuum as air was pushed out of his way and then rushed back in his wake.

Robin grunted, pushing his shades further into place. "Let's go."

"Hi! I'm Wally. Pleased to meet you. Ooh, cookies! Hot hot hot... mmmm, good!"

Kim blinked as a yellow blur shot toward her, then revealed to be a young boy in a yellow shirt and brown slacks. He briefly shook Kim's hand, rushed toward the pan, and grabbed up two cookies, all while talking a mile a minute.

"Um... hi. You must be the one called Kid Flash."

"That's the name, don't wear it out." He grabbed up two more cookies, the first two having vanished.

Robin and Aqualad walked in together. Aqualad moved toward Kim, holding out his hand. "Hello. I am Kaldur'am, also known as Aqualad. You may call me Kaldur."

"Hello, Kaldur." said Kim, shaking his hand. Kaldur was wearing a tight fitting shirt that left his arms bare, exposing the tattoos running down his arms. She turned, looking at the raven-haired boy who was now standing by the kitchen wall, slumped over with sunglasses pushed up to cover his eyes. "You must be Robin."

"That's right." said the thirteen year old boy. "And I'm still not traught."

"Don't expect him to tell you his real name." said Wally, scarfing down a fifth cookie. "Batman doesn't want him telling us." He turned to look at Megan. "These are a lot better then the first batch."

"Thank you."

Batman appeared suddenly, standing in the doorway of the kitchen. "There's trouble." he announced.

"All right!" said Wally. He blurred, reappearing in a yellow and red costume, complete with face mask. He then bent down, scooping up the remaining cookies.

"I made those to share." Megan pointed out.

"Hey, I've got an accelerated metabolism."

"Let's go." said Batman, turning to lead the way toward the Young Justice's briefing room.

_Author's Note: Thanks for reading this far. I haven't written a fanfic in awhile, so I'd appreciate comments and suggestions. _


	2. Prelude to a kiss

_Author's note: In addition to previous disclaimer, I do not own GI Joe Renegade. I have expanded upon the source material available to me (in other words, I made up a lot of stuff) and I've ignored several rules  
of reality in favor of plot. Hopefully, it's still a good story._

_Special thanks to LoveRobin for doing a proofread. I've made some changes since then, so any errors please blame on me. _

* * *

Batman led the group through the hallway past Superboy's room. When he reached the door, it slid back, revealing the youth. "I heard there was something up," Superboy said coolly, falling in line behind Batman.

"I told you he had great ears," Megan whispered to Kim.

"Whassup, Supe?" Wally asked, munching on a cookie.

Superboy eyed Kid Flash coldly and then reached out with super-speed, grabbing one of the last remaining cookies from Wally's hand. "That's what we're waiting for Batman to tell us."

The briefing room was deep in the heart of Mount Justice. In addition to a large computer screen, it featured a holographic display system that could be used to display three dimensional images. For now, Batman simply used the two dimensional screen. He walked over to the wall-sized display, pulling a remote out from his utility belt.

The screen displayed a logo, shaped vaguely like the Omega symbol.

"Hey, that's the logo for Cobra Industries!" Wally said, pointing at the screen. He pronounced it as 'Co-Bray'. "They make great pie."

"They also make various military combat systems and pharmaceutical supplies," said Robin.

"Correct," said Batman. "There have been various internet rumors of illegal activities by Cobra Industries and its CEO, Adam DeCobray. However, I have not yet been able to find any conclusive evidence of wrongdoing. In fact, except for only a very few, discredited internet sources, there seems to be no indication of any corporate wrong doings going on at all."

"So, they're clean?" Wally said. "They're good guys?"

"Uh-uh," said Robin. "Large corporations always have at least one or two bad apples. When you have that many people, someone is going to be rotten. Normal day-to-day business practices at that level of corporate circles operate in the realms of moral greyness. The only way a company comes across _that_ good is if they're seriously covering up something."

Batman nodded. "I've been keeping Cobra Industries under low level surveillance, but something recently came up." He pressed a button and the image changed to display five pictures. Four were obviously ID photos, the last was a blurred image of a man dressed in a black suit with a face mask completely covering him.

Batman gestured. "These four are military personal who are accused of breaking into a Cobra facility. Since then, they have been on the run, assaulting various Cobra locations in a stolen Cobra next-generation military transport." He pointed at the blurred image. "They are sometimes accompanied by a person reported to be a ninja. None of the four have anything in their background that indicate they were likely to go rogue.

"A few minutes ago, I was alerted to an alarm from a Cobra food distribution warehouse, indicating the rogues have broken in. However, there is no sign the company plans to contact the authorities. I want you to go in, try to capture the rogues, and find out what Cobra is hiding," said Batman. "Priority one is to avoid being captured yourselves. Priority two is finding out intel from Cobra. Priority three is their capture. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I've got one," said Robin. He pointed at Kim. "Is she coming along?"

"Yes," said Batman, just as Kim was saying "No."

The Dark Knight stared at the redhead for a moment, then snapped out a single command. "Explain."

"I'm NOT a member of this team," she pointed out. "You asked me here to have me consider. Fine, I've considered. I'm not a spy, I'm not a sidekick..."

"Junior partner," interrupted Wally.

"I'm not a junior partner," said Kim, accepting the correction. "I'm not your commando. I'm Kim Possible. It's one thing if a company asks me to stop a break in, or if I definitely know someone is trying to steal something for evil purposes. You want us to go in and we don't even know which side are the bad guys!"

"Thus the term, Reconnaissance." said Batman, voice gravelly. "You and Robin can enter and disable the security system. Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Miss Martian can then deal with the four military soldiers while you two search for information. If the ninja shows up, you and Robin can deal with him."

"Are those pointy ears just for decoration?" Kim said."I am NOT going on this mission, I am NOT joining the club."

Kaldur was the first to speak. "Excuse me... I think..."

Batman raised his hand, causing Kaldur to stop. "Fine. Change of plans. Arguing has wasted enough time. Robin and I will deal with this. We'll take the Batwing, it's faster in atmosphere then Miss Martian's ship. The rest of you stay here until I return to take Kim Possible home."

Superboy snorted. "I don't care either way," he said. "I've got more music to listen to."

"Awww, I wanted to go on another mission," grumbled Wally.

"I could take her in my ship," offered Megan. "I mean, since you won't be needing me."

Batman grunted and turned, his cape swirling as he stalked out, Robin hurrying to keep up. Despite the fact the man seemed to move with a steady, slow tread, Robin had to almost run to keep up.

"Was that a yes?" Megan asked.

"I'm not sure," Kim admitted and turned, to discover Aqualad staring at her. "What is it?"

"You actually said 'no' to Batman," said Kaldur, studying her closely. "That is not an easy thing to do."

Kim shrugged. "I'm not like you guys. I don't run around in tights and a cape."

"Neither do I," said Superboy. He turned, waving a hand in farewell. "I'm out of here."

"I understand your reasoning for refusing." Kaldur said, speaking slowly as he considered his words. "There are times when I am uncomfortable with our role we play in the battle between good and evil. However, not every victory can be won in the light. As Batman has told us, the bad guys are getting smarter. Knowledge is power, and our enemies know that."

"Yeah, and knowing is half the battle," said Wally, quoting the Cobra Industries commercial. "Are you sure you don't want to stick around with us, now that the wet blanket is gone?"

"I'm sure," said Kim, following the only other girl there as she headed for the exit. "I know that. Look, it's getting late, and even if I don't have to worry about school for three months I need to get back home."

"I was not going to ask you to rethink your decision." said Kaldur. "What I wished to know is why your... 'Attitude', I suppose, to Batman. From everything I have learned from Aquaman and Robin, he is a great man worthy of respect."

Kim took a moment to gather her thoughts. "Kaldur, I agree. Batman is an amazing person. He's a non-meta who manages to hold his own against beings that are one step from being practically gods. He's saved or helped to save the world more times then I've saved cats. I know I was coming across as... snippy. But look at it from my point of view. That man has to be one of the most terrifying people on the planet. It's overwhelming."

"You weren't overwhelmed." Megan said. "I mean... I know what it's like, being afraid, but you didn't sound afraid."

"If I hadn't kept on the aggressive, I'd have been wetting my panties." said Kim, frankly.

"Oh, so you ARE wearing them." said Wally. He began aware of several set of hostile glares aimed at his direction. "I'm a speedster, I'm supposed to tell bad jokes."

"So, you are displaying aggression to keep from displaying fear." Kaldur said, wanting to make sure he understood correctly.

"Yeah. Come on, doesn't Batman scare you guys?"

"No." said Kaldur. "I admire him, but I know that if necessary, my liege will protect me from him."

"And I'm a lot faster then anything Batman's got." bragged Wally.

"Kim doesn't have our advantages." said Megan. "The fact that she can do, and has done, so much means we should admire her as much as Batman. Maybe more."

"I apologize if my question has made you uncomfortable. I thank you for coming to visit with us." Kaldur bowed, respectfully. Kim found herself trying to duplicate the bow, impressed by the Atlantean's demeanor.

"Are you SURE you're wearing..." Wally started to ask, only for Kaldur to reach out and grab him by the back of his shirt, pulling Wally away.

"I guess we had better be getting you home." said Megan. "Come on."

Kim and Megan walked down to the hanger to discover that the Batwing long gone, leaving only the large black and red egg. Megan gestured at it and the egg reformed, shaping itself into a sleek-looking aerodynamic craft. The side of the thing rippled, creating a round doorway.

"Impressive," Kim admitted, stepping through the doorway and looking around. "Does she have a name?"

"Not really," said Megan behind Kim. "I just call her 'Ship' in my mind. Go ahead and take one of the seats."

Kim sat down in one of the four seats scattered around the ship's interior, surrounding a central seat. The chair shifted underneath her, readjusting to provide personalized support. Megan moved to the central seat. Two control rods rose from the floor. Megan placed her hands on top of the rods. The ship floated up, hanging about a foot off the ground.

"Don't forget to opaque the view screens," said Kim. "Batman doesn't want me to know where this base is."

"I trust you," said Megan, smiling at Kim. "Besides, maybe I want to prove that you're not the only one who can defy Batman."

Ship floated toward the hanger door, passing through it. There was no feeling of acceleration as they flew up high into the atmosphere, then set off toward Middleton. After a moment, Kim stood and walked over to one of the view screens, entranced by the sight of the world passing beneath her with no sensation of motion.

Kim was silent, staring out the window. She was startled when Megan spoke.

"Are you leaving because... of me?"

Kim turned, startled. "What?"

Megan looked nervous. "I know I don't make a good first impression. Growing up, the only person I spent time with was my uncle. I don't know much about how to act around Earthlings. Oops, I mean, humans."

"No! It wasn't you. You seem really nice," Kim said. "If it's anyone, it's Batman. I don't like the way he maneuvers people around like pieces on a chessboard, and I don't think it's right that he uses you kids as spies. I mean, you're what? 16? 17?"

"Well, in Martian years I'm 16," said Megan. "In your Earth years, I'm closer to 48."

"Oh...," said Kim. "Um..."

"It's OK," said the green girl. "Martians age slower then humans do, so I might as well be sixteen."

"Well, if you're really 48, how come you don't know how to act around humans?"

"I only started being able to reliably shape-shift about a year ago. Until then, I had to live hidden, with just television and my uncle occasionally for company."

"You know, just because I said I'm not going to be on the team, doesn't mean we can't be friends," Kim offered.

"You mean that?" Megan said, looking up with a smile.

"Sure." said Kim. "I know what it's like, having to deal with a house full of boys while trying to be a hero."

Megan stood up, impulsively hugging Kim. Kim found herself hugging Megan back. For a moment, the two women just stood on the bridge, holding each other.

"Um, Megan?" Kim said. "Um... not to ruin the moment or anything, but don't you need to fly this ship?"

Megan pulled back, one hand moving up and thumping her forehead. "Hello, Megan... I'm sorry. The ship can fly itself, but it needs me to guide it to where it's going. I'm sorry."

"Hey... don't do that," said Kim. "You're just... enthusiastic. It's nothing you should beat yourself up for."

"You're so nice... not like the others."

"Well, girls got to stick together, you know."

There was a moment as Megan and Kim stared into each other eyes, Martian and Human. Around them, the Ship flew though the air over Colorado, but inside was only silence and the sound of two people breathing. Then Megan moved forward, pressing her body against Kim's, arms wrapping about Kim's body as she kissed the other girl.

Kim froze, startled, and then...

...felt herself soaring over vast, red sands... Megan's last memory of Mars...

...traveling to Earth in Megan's ship following her uncle, the last two survivors of their once proud race. Staying in the ship, learning English from television shows while having to hide, afraid humans would consider her a monster...

...In those years of loneliness, beginning to be afraid she _was_ a monster, that she could never measure up...

...meeting Robin and the others she had hoped to find friends, but they were so confidant. Unlike Megan, they had grown up around humans, around people. The only one who could have known what Megan felt was Superboy, because like her he had grown up away from people; she in hiding, him in a Cadmus laboratory...

...Superboy rejecting her, choosing solitude over her, only further reinforcing Megan's feelings of inferiority...

Kim found herself back in her body, hands thrust out to push a very disappointed looking Megan away from her. "What was THAT?" Kim demanded.

* * *

"What was THAT?" Robin demanded, ducking behind a crate. An explosive bolt flew through the air where Robin had just been, impacting the wall and leaving a small crater behind.

"Cobra Crossbow C-17," said Batman. "Designed for situations where you want a weapon that can be fired without noise."

"Yeah, really stealthy," Robin said, pointing at the crater. "Too bad, the weapons those other three are firing are making so much noise." More weapon fire followed, setting fire to the crate he was behind.

"Priority two," Batman said. He pointed toward where the computer room was.

Robin nodded, firing his grappling claw toward the room. He jumped off, partially obscured by the smoke from the crate. Batman stood, throwing a set of exploding batarangs at the group, distracting them.

Once in the Cobra Facility's computer room, Robin ran a cable from his gauntlet mini-computer to the larger one. The computer used Cobra proprietary hardware, but Robin was able to bypass the connector port and he'd previously written a program which let his gauntlet spoof a Cobra thumb drive.

From there, Robin began working, alternating between using the keyboard and his gauntlet.

"Robin."

Robin didn't react. From experience, he was used to the way Batman could seem to materialize right behind him at any time. "I've got the sprinklers on and I'm trying to download the warehouse database now. The security system keeps trying to lock me out, so I've only got it about halfway done...," Robin reported, working furiously.

"Sprinklers aren't going to be enough. There's a methane gas leak. You need to shut it down before the whole building explodes.

"Got it," Robin typed in a new set of commands, switching menus. He managed to stop the gas leak and was trying to find a way to vent the explosive gas already present when he was interrupted by a metal shuriken flying through the air, smashing the monitor's screen. Batman grabbed Robin by the shoulder and pulled him back just before the shuriken exploded, destroying the monitor completely.

Robin and Batman both looked at the black garbed figure standing in the doorway, wearing a visor that completely covered his face. He was already preparing another throwing star. Batman gestured, a batarang seeming to magically appear in his hand.

"Arashikage Clan?" Batman asked.

The figure nodded.

"You are aware your master is dead?"

The figure nodded again. Robin had the weird feeling that was something the ninja had already known, but still felt great sadness about.

"Why are you doing this?" Batman demanded.

The figure pointed at the Cobra Industries logo at the wall, then made a slicing gesture with his hand.

"The people you are working with are criminals. If you all turn yourselves in, I can...," Batman stopped as the figure threw the shuriken at the floor of the doorway. It exploded, releasing a cloud of smoke which hid the ninja from view.

"Robin, keep working!" Batman ordered, then leaped through the smoke.

"Yeah, yeah...," the Boy Wonder muttered. He turned back to the computer. With the monitor destroyed, he was forced to work through just his gauntlet. He just hoped he had time; at least the gun fire had stopped, and it would probably take more then one of those shurikens to set off a major explosion. Several exploding at once, however, would probably be enough to trigger some major fireworks.

* * *

"We've got what we came for! Let's motor, Joes!" Duke ordered.

"We're out of here!" Tunnel Rat said, following Roadblock into the Coyote, their renamed transport.

"Snake-eyes!" Scarlet shouted, into the smoke. "It's time to go!"

"Snake Eyes?" Batman asked, blocking a sword strike with his armored forearm. The two were fighting on a second story catwalk mounted to the walls of the warehouse, allowing a view of the destruction down below. "Is that your use name?"

The ninja nodded, stepping back. He held the sword up, taking a second to inspect his blade after the strike. Batman took the opportunity to glance at his own gauntlet. The armored mesh was slit, the carbon-ceramic composite plate beneath the mesh visibly cracked. Batman wasn't sure how many more hits he could block like that before the armor in his suit was completely compromised.

The ninja suddenly began jumping and leaping in the air, whipping his sword in a pattern of random seeming slashes. Now it was Batman who stepped back, trying to spot the pattern, and realized too late that in addition to slicing through the air, the ninja had been slicing at the wall.

Snake-eyes landed lightly from his latest slash and then delivered a powerful sidekick, aimed at the center of the slashes he had cut in the wall. The section obediently broke open, providing a custom egress. Snake-eyes bowed low toward Batman before leaping through the hole. Batman started to follow, only to stop as he saw a metal cylinder the ninja had left behind.

Snake-eyes landed on all fours on top of the Coyote, then easily slipped inside through an open window.

"What kept you?" Tunnel Rat asked facetiously.

Snake-eyes shrugged in non-answer, as the grenade he left behind exploded. He looked back to see two caped figures, clearly outlined by the exploding building, watching in silence as the Joes drove away. Snake-eyes turned to Scarlet and began making several complex hand gestures.

"What's he saying?" Tunnel Rat demanded.

"He's asking a question." said Scarlet. "He wants to know, who was that masked man."


	3. Kiss and Tell

_New chapter up. For those of you interested, Shego should be showing up in a chapter or two. _

_Thanks again to Love Robin for editing a rough draft. This is my version after her corrections, so blame all mistakes on me. _

_Tunnel Rat, Scarlet, Roadblock, Snake Eyes, and Duke are characters from G.I. Joe Renegade. Hopefully the next chapter will be ready by next week, but I'm not promising anything. As always, comments are apprieciated and flames will mostly be ignored._

_Disclaimers in chapters 1 and 2  
_

* * *

"Well, besides food, what did we get?" demanded Tunnel Rat.

"We found out that Cobra is being more careful about their electronic information," said Scarlet. "I think if we're going to find out anything more on Cobra, we're going to need help. Professional help."

"That Kirby kid?" Roadblock asked. "The last time we checked in with him, he didn't have any new information."

"That's not who I meant," Scarlet said, then took a deep breath. "Roadblock, head north. Stop at the first public library that looks like it has internet computers available, and I'll see about arranging a meet. It'll probably be somewhere near Middleton."

Snake Eyes rapidly gestured, while staring at Scarlet.

"Yes, I'm sure," Scarlet said. "She's the best at what she does, even if I don't like what she does. Right now we need those skills."

The other Joes waited patiently, having grown used to only hearing Scarlet's side of the conversation when she talked with the mute ninja.

"Yes, it'll be awkward for me. But I can't think of a better course of action, can you?"

Snake Eyes finally shrugged, placing his hands down.

"Who is this woman you want to contact?" asked Duke.

* * *

"It was a kiss," Megan said, confused, staring into Kim's eyes. She realized she must have done something wrong, but resisted the urge to use her telepathic powers to try to find out why Kim was so upset.

"That wasn't just a kiss!" Kim said. "I saw things... things from your mind! Mars, and growing up, and..."

Megan looked down, blushing. Kim once again noticed that the green girl's cheeks actually turned red when she blushed, probably a side effect of her shape shifting powers. "I'm sorry. My uncle warned me... sometimes, when Martians feels strong emotions, their thoughts leak out... strong enough that even a non-telepath can sense them, if the two people are close enough. I didn't realize I was broadcasting, I'm sorry."

"Why did you kiss me in the first place?" Kim demanded. Her face was flushed, heart racing. The only time she had felt like this before was when dealing with Shego.

"Isn't that what two people do when they like each other?" Megan asked, hesitantly.

"When they're boyfriend and girlfriend, not when they're two girls!" Kim said.

"Should I have changed first?" asked Megan. Her body changed, shoulders broadening and her breasts flattening out. Her hair also shortened and her facial features rearranged themselves, until she was a green and red, slightly effeminate version of Superboy.

"NO!" said Kim, repulsed.

Megan quickly changed back to her normal appearance.

"Are you a guy or a girl?" Kim demanded.

"A girl," said Megan. "It's just... I can look like a boy, if you want."

"I want you to look like you. When I said we could be friends, I meant just friends, not whatever it is you're thinking of."

"But... don't friends kiss?" Megan was trembling, confused and upset. "On television, I've often seen two girls kissing."

"Maybe, but... look, let's get on the ground and we can talk about this more, ok?"

"OK," Megan sat back down in Ship's center seat, reaching out. Her thoughts and feelings were so awhirl it took her a few minutes to calm down enough for her mind to re-link with Ship's. Not surprisingly, they had overshot Colorado but she was able to guide the craft back around.

"We're over Middleton... where do you want me to land?" Megan asked.

Kim looked out the window. "I left my car at the school parking lot, and no one is likely to be there at this hour, especially with summer break starting. How about landing there?"

"OK... just point out where your school is," Megan had Ship lower itself, until Kim was able to make out landmarks.

"There's the Bueno Nacho, that means the school should be that way... yes, there it is."

Neither girl spoke as Ship landed next to Kim's Sloth.

Ship shifted, forming an opening for Kim to step through. Kim stood up, then hesitated. "I guess this is goodbye," Megan said quietly.

"Megan... I did mean it. I want us to be friends, but that kiss...," Kim took a deep breath. "It's too much for me to talk with right now. Meeting Batman, meeting all of you... that's a lot for me to process right now."

Megan nodded, meekly.

"Look... it's late," said Kim. "Can you call your friends, and spend the night at my house? We can talk about all this in the morning."

"Yes!" said Megan, smiling shyly. "I'd like that. It's what girls do, right? Have sleepovers?"

"That's right," said Kim. ~After all...,~ Kim thought to herself. ~I had the entire Team Go over at my house one time, what's one super hero compared to that? ~

* * *

Megan, and the rest of the Young Justice, had been given comm-badges. They were similar to the ones used by the Justice League, but set to a different set of frequencies. "Megan calling Red Tornado, come in please."

"Red Tornado here. What is your situation?"

"I've landed safely in Middleton, with Kim Possible. She invited me to spend the night. Is that OK?"

"I have insufficient data regarding protocol with young human females to accurately state whether that is 'OK' or not. However, based on limited data, I would surmise that is a positive turn of events."

"I mean, is it all right if I spend the night with her, instead of coming back to the base."

"I see no reason why it should not be. While you and Superboy are both living at the base, it is not intended as a prison. I would advise you to remain disguised as a human while out in public, however."

"What about Batman?"

"I would not advise using him as a model for an inconspicuous human form while in public. Batman has intentionally developed his appearance to be disconcerting toward other humans."

"No! I mean, is he there?"

"Batman returned approximately twelve point seven minutes ago, with Robin. Their mission was apparently not as successful as he had wished; after verifying that you were taking Miss Possible home, he left to return to Gotham. Robin has remained here, and he and I are attempting to analyze the information he collected from the Cobra shipping facility."

"If any of the others ask, please let them know I'll be staying in Middleton overnight, then. I'll keep the comm_-adge with me."

"Very well. Red Tornado, out."

* * *

Megan concentrated, changing. "How does this look?" she asked.

"Um, you look just like me," said Kim. She shook her head. "Wow, now I'm feeling Narcissistic."

"Oh, sorry...," said Megan. "It's easier for me to change if I have someone to copy from." She concentrated, morphing back to her normal features, just keeping Kim's skin tones. "How's that?"

"Well, at least you look like you now, but somehow I like you better green."

"This should be a lot less inconspicuous," said Megan. "I'll probably change back when we're inside; I have to concentrate to keep a changed form."

"This is Middleton," Kim said. "Between the space center and what seems like a new villain every two weeks, people are used to strange."

It was a short drive in the Sloth to her house. Megan's ship remained in the school parking lot, disguised as a red and black copy of the Sloth. The tweebs and her parents were already asleep, so Kim went to the kitchen and wrote a quick note explaining she had a friend over for the night, leaving it on the table for her parents to see in the morning. Her family was used to it. Ron had often spent the night when he and Kim were both younger, and more recently she had Monique over.

Kim then impulsively went over to a cupboard. "It's not a sleepover without junk food," she explained. "Do you like Chocos?" She held up a bag of chocolate cookies with cream filling.

"I like them, and my uncle J'ohn loves them," said Megan. "But I thought you said you were tired."

"I guess the drive here woke me up a bit. And there's no better time then a sleepover to have some girl talk."

* * *

Kim changed to a pair of pajamas in the bathroom, while Megan waited in her room. When she came out, she discovered the other had reverted to her green skin and was now...

Kim hastily looked away, but not before learning Martians, at least this one, were hairless from the neck down. "Um, Megan? Why are you nude?"

"This is how I usually sleep," Megan replied. "My clothes, like my Ship, needs to periodically rest. Is something wrong?"

"Humans have this thing about nudity. Here...," Kim went over to her closet, pulling out her other pair of sleep shorts and t-shirt. "You can wear this to sleep in."

"OK," Megan pulled the clothes on. Fortunately she and Kim were relatively close in size, and the clothes were baggy enough to fit both of them. "I guess I still have a lot to learn about humans."

"We can be pretty complicated," admitted Kim. "And I guess it makes sense that a telepathic race of shape shifters wouldn't have a nudity taboo."

"On Mars, clothes were usually only worn for ceremonial or hazardous occasions," Megan explained. "The main reason I had a Suit was to use is a space suit, since when we left Mars I wasn't able to shift to a form that could survive vacuum like Uncle J'ohn could."

"Wait...," Kim said. "You mean the Martian Manhunter runs around... NAKED?"

"Basically," admitted Megan. "At least in the sense that he's not really wearing anything. Is that a problem?"

"Just that it's going to be a lot weirder when I see him," said Kim. She opened the Chocos, taking a few and handing the bag to Megan.

"Are you ready to talk about the kiss now?" Megan asked.

Kim finished the cookie in her hand, then nodded. "I think we should. "

"You said you saw things... from my mind," Megan said, blushing hard. "What... sort of things?"

Kim hesitated, thinking. The images had been very intense but chaotic. "There was an image of flying over Mars... then coming to Earth. Then there were some scenes of you growing up, and first meeting with the other Young Justice members. But... I could also feel the emotions you associated with them. You miss Mars a lot, don't you?"

"Yes... and the rest of my family." Megan said, sadly. "J'ohn and I are the last of our race. When we die, our race will be gone forever."

"I'm sorry. I can't imagine how that must feel," said Kim, softly. She moved closer to Megan, putting her arm around the Martian girl's shoulders.

"J'ohn and I have talked about it," Megan said. "He says not even Superman understands, although he comes closest. The thing is Superman came to Earth as a baby, so he doesn't have any true memories of Krypton. J'ohn and I lived on Mars, before...," she shuddered.

"Shh... shh... it's OK." Kim's hand stroked Megan's back. "Have you talked about it with anyone besides your uncle? With your friends?"

"I... don't have any friends, except the other Young Justice members," admitted Megan.

"Well, I'll be your friend." Kim said.

Megan smiled, shyly, "Um, Kim?"

"Yes, Megan?"

"Can we... kiss again?" Megan blushed, shyly. "I... want to know if I'm going to broadcast memories every time I kiss someone."

Kim hesitated for a moment, then gave in. "All right."

Megan leaned partway toward Kim. Kim took a second to gather up her courage then leaned in, pressing her lips against Megan's.

This time Kim had time to note there was an exotic taste to kissing Megan; not unpleasant, but a faint tinge of strangeness that was alluring rather then frightening. The girl's body was slightly cooler then her own, probably a result of her Martian physiology. There was no rush of memories, but Kim felt a tingling in her mind; as if a mental link was waiting to be establish. Emboldened, not really thinking about her previous objection to two girls kissing, Kim pressed firmer, then moved to sucking on Megan's upper lip. Megan quivered in Kim's arms, tilting her head back and sucking on Kim's lower lip in return.

For an instant, Kim saw the scene in stereo; she was Kim, kissing her new friend Megan, and she was M'gann M'orzz having what was only her second kiss in her life. For just that instant, they were the same person, a single being with two bodies, two memories, two sets of lips and arms and...

Kim broke the kiss, face flushed, breathing hard. This time, however, she did not instinctively push Megan away, but instead remaining holding her in her arms. She noticed that Megan was breathing hard also, her breasts heaving beneath the white shirt.

Kim mentally scrambled for something to say, after that split-second of epiphany. She fell back to a stock joke, not realizing how it might sound to the uninitiated. "So... was it good for you too?"


	4. Bittersweet memories

Author's note:

Grok comes from 'Stranger in a Strange Land' by Robert Heinlein. Quote from the novel (quoted in Wikipedia's definition of Grok) "Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us (because of our Earthly assumptions) as color means to a blind man."

I hope you enjoy the story, please comment. Thanks again to Love Robin for being my beta reader.

* * *

Megan looked up at Kim. "I... did not know Humans could _grok_. But yes, it was very good for me."

"Grokking? Is that what it's called?" Kim asked, regretting her flippant comment.

Megan nodded. "When two Martians come together, they sometimes can briefly _'grok'_... become as one. I never expected to experience it. Thank you."

"We're not married now or something, are we?" Kim asked, nervously.

"No," said Megan, shaking her head. "The ability to _grok_ is separate from marriage. On Mars, there were many married couples that either never chose to or were unable to _grok_. On the other hand, two siblings or two close friends might _grok_. It's even possible, but rarer, for a group of three or more to _grok_ together."

"Is that going to happen every time we kiss from now on?" Kim asked, not consciously realizing she was already expecting there to be more kissing in the future.

"Probably not," said Megan. "We could only _grok_ because we were both open to it. If you don't want it to... it won't happen again."

"I'm... not sure how I feel about it," admitted Kim. "It was... overwhelming."

Megan nodded in agreement. "It is not something to take lightly. It is a great gift you have given me, Kim Possible, just to allow me to experience it once."

Both were silent for a moment, lost in their thought. Then Megan spoke. "With your permission, I would like to meditate on all of this. As humans would put it, to 'sleep on it'."

"Oh, right," said Kim. "Let me get a sleeping bag out for you."

"That will not be necessary," Megan said. She moved to a corner of the room, folding her legs into lotus position. "Martians do not sleep quite as humans do; instead we meditate. It serves for us all the same purposes; since coming to Earth, I usually meditate about four to six hours each day."

"All right," said Kim. "Sweet dreams... um, meditations. Whatever." She rolled the half eaten bag of Chocos away for later and then turned off the lights. Once she was in bed, Kim found herself staring at where she knew Megan was sitting. After a while, she forced herself to close her eyes. When she finally fell asleep, her dreams were filled with images of red Martian sands and two women flying over the dry landscape, hand in hand.

* * *

From: SCARLET_LETTER (a) FREE_E_MAIL . COM  
To: GREEN_HOTTIE (a) InTerrorNet . Net

Subject : Meeting

Hi, Shego. It's been awhile since we've talked, and I know we both agreed it was over. Not the first time I've had to eat my words around you. I don't know if you've been following the news, but we could really use your help. **I** could use your help. If what we had ever meant anything to you, please contact me so we can arrange a meeting.

All my love, Scarlet

* * *

"Whoah... who is this Shego?"

Scarlet blushed as red as her hair, hastily using her hands to cover the computer monitor she was using in the library. She turned and glared at Tunnel Rat. "Do you mind?"

"I just thought you were contacting some woman," said Tunnel Rat, shrugging. "But that reads like a love letter."

"Modern Army," said Scarlet. "Don't ask, don't tell."

Tunnel Rat's jaw open fell. "You mean... she and you?"

"We were... ships in the night," said Scarlet. "We were both going different directions. She couldn't convince me to join her in crime, I couldn't convince her to go straight... so to speak. We finally decided it hurt more to be together then it would hurt to be apart."

"I thought you and the Snake guy were an item," said Tunnel Rat, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Don't tell Duke or any of the others," Scarlet ordered. "It's personal, understood? I wouldn't even be contacting her now, except..."

"I understand," said Tunnel Rat. "It just sounds like you miss her a lot."

"I do," admitted Scarlet. "She was... everything I wanted to be. Impulsive. Brave. Funny."

"Well, you're impulsive and brave enough for me," assured Tunnel Rat. "The funny? That you still need to work on."

"Oh... go read a book!"

Tunnel Rat obediently headed off. Scarlet took one last look at the e-mail, then hit send. She snorted to herself as she started a search for news about Cobra Industries. Tunnel Rat reading a book. Now that WAS funny.

Tunnel Rat found Roadblock in the middle of the philosophy section. Roadblock held a book open in one hand, a large pile of books in his other hand. Even for a man of his size, the pile was an impressive stack to carry one handed.

"You know we're just staying in town long enough for Scarlet to get a reply, right?" asked Tunnel Rat.

"Yeah. Hey, some of us like to curl up with a good book."

"That's not what Scarlet...," Tunnel Rat started to say, then stopped himself. "Never mind. Duke still in the newspaper section?"

"Yeah," said Roadblock. "So you figured it out?"

"Figured what out?"

"That Scarlet had feelings for this woman she's contacting."

Tunnel Rat's mouth fell open again, for the second time in less then an hour. "You knew?"

"Some of us pay attention. Just remember, what happens on the mission stays on the mission. We don't talk about comrades when it could get them hurt. Understood?". Roadblock liked many things about being in the military, but one he didn't was the military's policy on gay personnel. From his reading on history, he knew there had been many brave warriors who'd been gay or bi-sexual.

"I'm no squealer," Tunnel Rat promised.

* * *

Shego looked at the message in her e-mail. She had been following the news closely ever since she heard about the supposed break-in by Scarlet O'Hara and a small squad of military personnel. At first she had trouble believing it. Scarlet was a lot like another recent redhead Shego had dealt with; straight-laced, and tending to believe there was some mystical significance to the government. Shego, on the other hand, had learned a long time ago that Lawrence of Arabia was right: There may be honor among thieves, but there is none in politicians.

As she learned more, she had gone from worrying if Scarlet was being framed to worrying that Scarlet had bitten off more then she could chew. Cobra Industries had a certain reputation in the underworld. People who got in Cobra's way were put out of the way, hard.

If this had been a cartoon show, two figures would have appeared on Shego's shoulders: One the voice of her caution, the other the voice that remembered a woman who, for all her cold formality in public, had been one of the most passionate women Shego had ever met.

"Frag it," Shego muttered, beginning to type an e-mail to respond. Working with Drakken had gotten boring; the only challenge came from a certain red-haired cheerleader. At least taking on Cobra Industries promised to be different.

* * *

From: GREEN_HOTTIE (a)  
To: SCARLET_LETTER (a) FREE_E_MAIL . COM

Subject : RE: Meeting

Do you remember that bar where we drank together, for the last time?  
I've still got the bottle opener.  
Meet me there Saturday evening, at sunset.

PS: Lose the ninja.

* * *

Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief, reading the message. Today she let Tunnel Rat sit beside her at the computer desk, instead of having him come up behind her like he had done yesterday.

"So, we're meeting her at a bar?" Tunnel Rat asked.

"No," said Scarlet. "The place where we last drank wasn't a bar... and it's a place only we two would know about. The line about the bottle opener is so I can know for sure that it's from her."

Tunnel Rat shrugged. "So what do I tell Duke?"

"That we've got to get to Middleton by sunset."

An hour later, the Joes were on their way, with Roadblock driving. Tunnel Rat was sitting in the front passenger seat, ear-buds in to block out the music Roadblock was playing on the radio. Scarlet and Duke were sitting in the back, while Snake Eyes used the center aisle to do pushups. The ninja was doing them one handed, only using the tips of his fingers and thumb to press against the floor.

"So where did you meet this Shego?" Duke asked.

"I was working security for the Middleton Space Center," said Scarlet. "I was the only woman on the military detachment, and occasionally I needed a break. Apparently she felt the same way. We bumped into each other at a bar."

_Between the cigarette smoke and the dim light, Scarlet was unable to see more then a few feet in front of her, and right now that suited her fine. Her mind was preoccupied with things she did not want to see right now, starting with the grabby-hands colonel she was assigned to work with. She would have complained to his superior, if she hadn't known his superior was just as slimy as the colonel. Hopefully it wouldn't be too long before she was transferred, and at least the work going on at Middleton was really important, not the usual government pork._

_She was aware of a woman passing by her and stopping. "You're new here," the other woman said._

_"Just passing through," said Scarlet. "Can't pass through here fast enough."_

_"I know the feeling," the woman had said and continued past._

_Scarlet lost count of how many beers she nursed, just sitting there, letting the music of the jukebox and the civilian anonymity relax her tension. She had been surprised when the bar tender announced last call._

_Scarlet had stood up, almost bumping into the woman who had talked to her earlier._

_"Sorry," Scarlet apologized._

_"No sweat," the woman said, shrugging. She looked at Scarlet, concerned. "You planning on driving somewhere?"_

_"No," Scarlet said. However many beers it had been, she was probably close to or over the legal alcohol limit for driving. "Probably going to see if I can find another beer. If not, head home."_

_"It's almost sunrise," the other smiled. "Come on... I know the best place in Middleton to see the sunrise, and I've got some wine in my car."_

_Scarlet was drunk enough that going with a stranger seemed like a good idea. After all, what good was all that military training if she was unable to defend herself? "Sure, why not."_

_About thirty minutes later, the two were on top of the Middleton branch of the IYS Insurance building. The woman had let them in through a side entrance, and they climbed the stairs together, the woman carrying a wine bottle, a blanket, and two wine glasses._

_Scarlet stood by the edge of the building, watching the sunrise. She had to squint in the bright light, but the sight was glorious. "You were right," Scarlet said, turning. "This is the best place. What did you say your name was?"_

_"Shego," she held up a hand. In the growing light was pale alabaster with just the slightest hind of green. Her hand glowed with green fire as she pressed it to the wine bottle, melting the wax seal holding the cork on. She dug her thumbnail into the cork, pulling it free._

Scarlet shook her head, to clear it after the flashback. "We... talked together a lot. She was amazing with her tongue, the things she could say with a straight face."

Tunnel Rat spluttered, coughing loudly.

"Something wrong, Tunnel Rat?" Duke asked, concerned.

"I'm fine." Tunnel Rat said hastily, face flushed.

"It was a low point in my career. I thought about quiting, and Shego was someone offering me an option, a way out." said Scarlet. "Then I met Snake Eyes and... well, he helped me relearn what honor was." Scarlet turned to the ninja. "Thank you for that."

Snake Eyes shifted to a handstand, then transitioned to a backwards half summersault, ending facing Scarlet. He pressed his right fist against the palm of his left hand and bowed, a guesture even Duke could recognize as 'You're Welcome'.

* * *

Megan was in the final phase of her meditation rituals when she heard a soft knock. She hurried through the last of the mental forms and opened her eyes, just as the door opened. A woman, who appeared to be an older version of Kim, was poking her head into the room. She turned, and looked startled when she saw Megan. "OH!"

"Hello." Megan said, then groaned and thumped her hand with a forehead. "Hello, Megan!" The Martian girl had just realized she was still in her natural green skinned form. "I'm sorry, I didn't meen to startle you."

"It's fine." said the woman. "I'm Ann Possible, Kim's mom. You must be Kim's friend."

Kim stirred, mumbling in her sleep. Ann glanced over at where the young red-haired girl was asleep on the bed. "You two must have gotten in late, so she'll probably be asleep for at least another hour or two. Do you need to go back to sleep?"

"No, I'm fine." said Megan. She reached down, picking up the white egg that was her Suit in its sleaping mode. "I'll just get dressed and out of your way."

"Don't be silly, any friend of Kim's is a friend of ours." said Ann. "I just came up to see if anyone was awake because I've got breakfast ready. Do you like scrambled eggs and waffles?"

"Oh, yes ma'am."

"Well, get changed and then come downstairs while they're hot. Um, I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but are you related to or a mutated form of Shego?"

"No ma'am." said Megan. "I'm a Martian."

"Oh! Then you can shape shift, right?" Ann said.

"Yes ma'am."

"You might want to color change before you come downstairs and meet Kim's younger brothers."

"You're afraid I would scare them?" Megan asked.

"Oh, no!" said Ann, startled at the idea. "I'm afraid they'd want to experiment on you. If they do bother you, just let me know and I'll get them out of your way."

* * *

Kim woke up, looking arround. There was no sign of Megan, and for a moment Kim wondered if last evening had all been a very weird dream. She sniffed, smelling her mom's waffles, and her stomach growled. Whether last night had been a dream or not, it was time to eat. Kim dressed quickly and rushed down the stairs, only to freeze as she stepped into the dining room.

Megan was sitting there; even with peach skin, Kim could recognize the Martian girl. There was a plate with the remnats of several waffles on it, and Megan was stuck between the tweebs; Jim and Tim, Kim's younger brothers.

"So, Megan, where'd you meet Kim?" Jim demanded.

"Someone I know introduced the two of us." said Megan, selecting her words carefully. "I'm new to Ear... new to Middleton, so Kim offered to show me arround a bit. It was late, so she asked me to spend the night."

"So, what are you two planning to do today?" asked Tim.

"We're going clothes shopping." Kim said, before Megan could answer. Kim figured, of all the possible answers, that would be the answer most suited to make the tweebs lose interest.

"Oh." Tim and Jim said in unison, then looked at each other.

"Hicka bicka?"

"Boo shaw!"

The two twin-boys jumped up in unison.

"See ya, mom... "

"We're going to the basement..."

"...to work on our rocket."

"Are they always like that?" Megan asked, rubbing her forehead. "The way they act... I kept expecting to sense them communicating telepathicly."

Kim glanced at her mom. "Um, Megan..."

"It's all right, Kim." Ann said. "Megan filled me in a bit while helping me make up a second batch of waffles. I know she's from Mars."

"You didn't tell the tweebs, did you?"

"Of course not, Kim. So, are you two really going clothes shopping?"

Kim looked at Megan. "Did you want to?" Kim asked. "I don't know if you have to get back to that mountain hideout or not."

"Red Tornado or the others can call me if they need me." Megan repled. She smiled. "Clothes shopping is supposed to be a typical Earth girl activity, yes? I'd like to try it."

"You mean you've never..." Kim thumped her own forehead, not realizing she had picked up her guest's habit. "Hello, Kim! Of course, the whole shapeshifting clothing thing... you never needed to. Ok, as soon as I have breakfast, we'll go clothes shopping."


	5. Love in the Cards

The Kim and Shego daughter joke and the robots came up while I was chatting with Love Robin, so I blame that bit on her. The rest of it is my fault.

I started writing this before seeing the Young Justice episode 'Schooled', so I don't currently have any plans on adding Artemis to the fic. Feedback is always appreciated, but please be aware that if you post annonymously just to complain how my version of the characters is different then yours, please be aware I will probably delete the comment.

* * *

It was a slow Saturday morning at Club Banana. Monique was glad when she saw Kim and a strange girl walk in. "Hey, GF! Looks like you got an NFT."

Megan blinked in confusion. "An... Inn Eff Tee?"

"New Friend There," Monique translated.

"Monique, this is Megan," Kim said. "She... goes to another school. We met yesterday and I offered to take her clothes shopping. She's led a pretty sheltered life."

Megan nodded in agreement. "Growing up, it's mostly just been me and my uncle, and he's often been busy. I was home schooled and didn't have many friends growing up."

"Well, look around and let me know if you see anything you like," Monique said. "We've got a few new outfits in."

Kim and Monique browsed the racks, looking. A few minutes later, Megan pulled out a purple jacket, the same color as Kim's mission top. "Do you think this would look good on me?" Megan asked.

"It'd look a bit big," Kim pointed at the size label. "Hey, Monique?"

Monique looked at the jacket, then at Megan. "Sorry, Megan. I'm afraid we only have that jacket in a couple of sizes, and they're all too big for you."

"No problem," Megan said. "I'll buy this jacket, and then make... alterations."

"If you're sure... I'll ring you up."

Kim grabbed Megan's arm and leaned close. "I just thought... do you have money?"

"Of course," said Megan. "Batman insisted on giving us an 'allowance', something about helping us learn financial planning. That and he said he didn't want us devaluing the diamond market by manufacturing our  
own diamonds."

"You can do that coal squeezing trick?" Kim asked.

"Not right now, but uncle says I could probably learn it in time," said Megan. "And Superboy probably could do it now, if he tried."

Kim shook her head. It was easy to forget Megan had abilities far beyond those of ordinary girls. She wondered if Batman ever had trouble remembering that most of the League Members could physically swat him like a fly. "Well, let's get that jacket."

Monique rang up Megan's purchase, not doing more then blinking in surprise when Megan pulled a hundred dollar bill from a hidden pocket to pay. ~Huh, wonder if I could have convinced Batman to pay me an allowance if I had joined~ Kim thought.

"Kim, any chance we could MFL?" Monique asked, handing Megan back her change.

"Meet for lunch?" Kim asked. "Sure, if it's ok with Megan."

"I'd like that."

"Ok, meet you two at the foot court at eleven?" Monique asked.

Megan's first stop after Club Banana was to the bathroom. Kim watched in surprise as Megan came out, wearing what appeared to be an identical copy of the purple jacket, now shrunk down to her size. "That's amazing!"

"Not really," said Megan. "I just had to 'think' the pattern hard enough, and my clothes changed to match. I used to copy clothes from TV shows, until J'ohn told me that it wasn't right, and I should pay for clothes before copying them."

"That makes sense, I guess," Kim admitted. "Come on, let's go try on shoes."

* * *

Megan frowned at a pair of shoes. "Earth women really wear these?" she demanded.

"Sure," said Kim. "Come on... it's not as hard as it looks." She grabbed the shoes and slid the high heels on, then stood up. She wobbled for a minute, catching her balance, then walked to the end of the aisle and back. "See?"

"Ok," said Megan. "Let me try."

It was the first time Megan had worn shoes which did not respond to her mental thoughts, and it made her feel a great deal of sympathy for humans who had no access to telepathically responsive clothes. Her toes felt pinched, and she felt constantly off balance. With her first trip she stumbled, and would have fallen except Kim caught her.

"Let me help...," Kim offered, arms wrapped around Megan. "Here, stand up." The redhead stepped back, looking Megan over. "Pull your shoulder back a bit... Ok, now take a step forward... hold it... tilt your foot down a bit more, you want to make sure the ball of your foot hits before your heel does. Set one foot down in front of the other..."

With Kim's coaching, Megan was soon walking more gracefully back and forth down the aisle. "How's that?" Megan said. "I don't see how I could wear something like this on a mission."

"I wouldn't even try," admitted Kim. "But shoes like this can be good to wear when you want to just dress up, for a special event or for someone special."

"Oh...," Megan said. She looked at the shoes, then took them over to the counter to pay for them. "Is there anything else you would suggest I wear for someone special?"

"Um... how special are you talking about?" Kim asked, blushing but unaware exactly why.

"What would you like to see me wearing?"

"OH!" Kim sighed in relief. "Nothing. Er, I mean, nothing you wouldn't wear normally, that is. Come on, let's try some more clothes shops."

By lunchtime, Megan was carrying two large shopping bags and Kim had one. Kim led the way to the Food Court, spotting Monique in front of the Orange Caesars.

"Wow, looks like you two have been busy," Monique said. She glanced at Megan, then her eyes went wide. Monique grabbed Kim and Megan by the arms and dragged them over to a corner. "WTD?" Monique demanded, staring at Megan.

"What do you mean?" Kim asked, confused.

Monique pointed at the purple jacket Megan was wearing. "No way you could have gotten that jacket resized that fast."

"We, um, found it in another store?" Kim said.

Monique looked at Kim. "Girl... You're NEVER going to be good at lying. That jacket is a Club Banana original."

Kim looked at Megan, trying to think of some way to explain it. Megan looked her way, eyes meeting.

~Kim... do you trust her?~

Kim blinked. Megan's lips were unmoving, but it sounded as if she had spoken directly to her. "Wha..."

~Is she trustworthy?~ Megan telepathically asked.

Kim nodded.

"The truth is," Megan spoke, "that I am more than I appear. If we could go somewhere private?"

* * *

Monique led the way back to Club Banana. "Hey, Sabrina?" Monique called. "I'm taking my friends to the break room, ok?"

"Sure, just don't be late clocking back in from lunch."

The break room was a small area with a table, two chairs, and a mini-fridge. A bulletin board held a calendar and several flyers. Monique locked the door behind them. "Ok, WTD? What's the deal?"

Megan looked at Monique, letting her skin change to its normal Martian green. Her outfit morphed back into the form she planned to use for missions.

Monique _eeped_. "You and Shego had a daughter?"

"What? No!" said Kim, startled. "She's a Martian! No relation to me or Shego." Kim frowned, thinking. "Anyway, how could Shego and I have a daughter? And Megan's the same age I am... er, physiologically." Kim added, remembering what Megan had said about Martian aging.

"Hey, you deal with all those mad scientists and stuff, you see some freaky shit," pointed out Monique. "Time traveling genetic fusions wouldn't be that surprising?"

"Monique, when have I ever dealt with anything that weird?" Kim demanded.

"Last week."

"Technically, those were AI robots that only THOUGHT they were from the future," Kim pointed out. "It turned out their clock chips were improperly set."

"Anyway...," Monique turned to Megan, holding out her hand. "Any friend of Kim's is a friend of mine."

"You're not worried about me being an alien?" Megan asked, shaking Monique's hand.

"After you've been hanging with Girlfriend here awhile, you get used to weird."

* * *

After lunch and a quick stop back at home, Kim drove Megan back to the school parking lot. As soon as they were parked, Megan's Ship obediently transformed, expanding from its disguised form to its normal appearance. Megan stowed her bags then moved to stand in the doorway.

"You're sure you've got everything?" Kim asked.

"Yes," said Megan, smiling. "And you're sure you don't want to join us?"

"It's not you," Kim said. "It's just... it's not my style."

"I understand."

"We can still be friends," Kim said, quickly. "You've got my contact info, right? Call me, beep me, if you ever want to reach me."

"Yes. Well... I guess I'll be seeing you," Megan started to turn, back into the ship.

"Megan...," Kim said, impulsively. The young Martian turned. Much to the surprise of both, Kim grabbed Megan's shoulders, pulling her close and kissing her.

Megan's eyes flared open wide. Then she closed them, returning the kiss hungrily. This time, the mental merger came instantly, but only at a physical level. Both girls felt two sets of sensations, two sets of  
lips pressed against each other, Kim's hands on Megan's shoulders, Megan's arms wrapping around Kim's body, Megan's lips parting as Kim's tongue darted in, Kim tasting the Martian girl's enticingly alien mouth...

The two girls broke apart, breathing heavily. "I...," Megan said, then paused, trying to think of something to say.

"I... I just wanted to say have a good flight," Kim said awkwardly

"I will," Megan promised. "I'll call you soon, ok?"

"You'd better," said Kim..

The door slit closed, separating the two of them. Kim watched as Ship flew up into the air, then flew off toward Mount Justice, leaving the redhead behind.

* * *

Scarlet fiddled with the exterior door to the IYS building stairwell, trying to pick the lock. "Shego made this look so easy," she muttered.

Silently, Snake-Eyes took the tension wrench and lockpicks from Scarlet's hands. He slid the wrench into the keyhole, using the pick to rake over the tumblers, then in just a few seconds had the lock open.

"Thank you," Scarlet accepted the lockpick set back.

Snake-Eyes gestured, hands moving.

"I'm not...," Scarlet started to protest, then stopped. "Ok, yes, I'm stalling. I haven't seen her in awhile and... I've changed a lot since then. I'm sure she has too. What if she doesn't like the new me, or..."

Snake-Eyes reached up, placing a finger on Scarlet's lips, silencing her. His other hand moved.

"All right," she took a deep breath. "I'm going. You better stay with the rest of the Joes."

The silent ninja nodded again, stepping back. Somehow, in the middle of a mostly empty parking lot surrounded by shrubbery, he managed to vanish.

Scarlet entered the staircase, climbing upwards. The door to the roof opened easily, Scarlet managing to unlock the lock almost as fast as Shego or Snake-Eyes could have done it. When she stepped out, she  
spotted an ice chest set in the middle of a roof.

Scarlet moved to the middle of the roof, looking around. She did not spot Shego, but was sure that the green-hued thief was watching. Scarlet knelt and opened the ice chest to see a Wisteria bloom and a bottle of wine. Scarlet picked up the purple flower, shocked.

"I remembered."

The redhead did not turn, only nodding to let Shego know she had heard. "Yes," Scarlet admitted, "and it's still my favorite flower." Now Scarlet turned, seeing Shego standing by the edge of the roof. Scarlet held up the bottle. "Wasn't this a bit expensive, seeing as how I just called you to talk."

"Life's too short for cheap booze," Shego said. She started to move toward Scarlet.

"Shego, I..."

For the second time that evening, Scarlet was silenced. This time by Shego's lips pressing against hers, the thieve's gloved hands coming up to cradle Scarlet's face as she hungrily kissed her.

The wine bottle landed on the roof with a clunk, the thick glass bottle fortunately not breaking. Scarlet's arms wrapped around Shego's body, kissing back just as hungrily. "Oh, gods...," Shego moaned, breaking the kiss. "I've missed you, Red."

"I've missed you," admitted Scarlet. "But..."

"You did ditch the ninja, right?" Shego asked, moving to kiss and nibble at the side of the other's neck. Scarlet gasped as the attention of Shego's teeth and lips seemed to send surges of pure pleasure dancing through her body.

"Y-yes... but...," Scarlet said, trying to remember why she needed to talk with this woman

"Then I've got a set of blankets with our names on it," Shego ran her hands down the front of Scarlet's jacket, her lips sliding down the side of Scarlet's neck in a trail of cases.

* * *

"Should we be worried?" Duke demanded. "She's been up there almost an hour."

Snake-Eyes shook his head silently. He looked down at the cards he held in front of him, then pointed at Tunnel Rat before holding up four fingers, questioningly.

"No fours," Tunnel Rat said. "Go fish."


	6. Telling Secrets

_Dr. Bender's headset's line "I hear everything you hear." came from A Very Potter Musical, Act 1. I highly recomend it, if you haven't seen it yet. It's a very fun alternate universe take on the Harry Potter series._

_Thanks again to LR for beta-reading and letting me bounce ideas off of her. _

_Pesterfield: Thanks for reading, I made the corrections you noted.  
_

_Note: The American Sign Language sign used below by Snake Eyes is for the animal 'fish' rather then the verb 'fish'. I went with that form since it just uses one hand, letting Snake Eyes keep his cards in his free hand. If you are trying to use ASL, the correct movement for fishing involves miming using a fishing rod, with two hands._

* * *

"I started investigating Cobra Industries, investigating rumors about funds being diverted from government projects," Scarlet explained. "I found hints about Cobra industries diverting funds to something called the 'Cadmus II' project, but there were no official records, no real proof. After months of searching, I finally got a break; I found a money trace to a pharmaceutical plant Cobra was maintaining near Springfield. However, I still didn't know what they were doing, or have enough information to launch an official investigation."

"So you went unofficial," Shego said, smiling.

"I told my superiors there was a terrorist threat, got Duke... sorry, Sergeant Conrad Hauser and his unit assigned. I figure I'd use their muscle to distract while I found out what Cobra was hiding."

"Very sneaky and unorthodox. I approve."

"Well...," Scarlet sighed. "Turned out Cobra was hiding a lot more then I had ever dreamed. One of the squad... Wallace Weems... got killed on the raid. He was the first one in the squad to call me 'Scarlet', and the rest followed. I couldn't exactly tell them that the reason I didn't want that nickname was because it was _your_ pet name for me."

"You never struck me as a 'Shana'. So, what did you find?"

"We found out Cobra had been working on a bio-genetics experiment, creating some sort of mutant super-soldier. We managed to destroy the base, but Cobra framed us as trying to rob and then destroying an innocent, civilian facility." Scarlet took a deep breath, "Since then, we've learned more. Like the fact that there is no 'Adam DeCobray', it's all just computer imagery hiding the real head of Cobra Industries. And that they're working hand-in-hand with M.A.R.S. Industries, and other organizations. Whatever Cadmus II is, it's more then just one bio-genetics program. They're using their civilian operations to disguise shipments of supplies and information. We raided a food warehouse, but all we managed to get this time was an address for another research facility. This one is hidden under a M.A.R.S. Storage warehouse, used for holding experimental munitions. Security is going to be a lot tighter; more then just we five people can handle by ourselves."

"So, you thought of me," Shego smiled. "An excellent briefing, by the way. Do you do all your presentations this way?"

"You mean on a rooftop?"

"I meant, naked," Shego reached out, running a hand over Scarlet's face. The two were laying sandwiched between two blankets, the half finished bottle of wine next to them.

"There... hasn't been anyone, since you," Scarlet said softly, staring into Shego's green eyes. "No one who made me feel safe."

Shego quirked an eyebrow. "*I* made you feel safe?"

"Maybe 'safe' isn't the right word," Scarlet admitted. "Made me feel like I didn't have to pretend to be something I'm not, or be more than I really was. Snake Eyes probably comes closest, but..."

"Guys don't do it for you."

"Well, that, and... I saw him once with the visor off." Scarlet shivered. "It's shallow, but... his face is pretty much hamburger after that explosion. I could probably learn to live with it but he always keeps it covered up. It's like he doesn't even want to admit he was disfigured."

"Ninjas. Can't live with 'em, can't be sure you're living without them," Shego said. "If he ever changes his mind, I can recommend a great plastic surgeon, if he doesn't mind being part monkey."

"Don't hold your breath."

"Oh, I can think of more fun things to hold...," Shego's head moved under the blankets, soon leaving Scarlet gasping in pleasure.

"Got any eights, Snake Eyes?" Roadblock asked.

The ninja held his right hand out, moving it forward as he wiggled back and forth, like a fish swimming through water.

Roadblock pulled a card from the deck, then grinned. He laid down four eights, using the last of his cards, "I win!"

"Aww, this game's boring," complained Tunnel Rat. "I'm going to go see what's taking Scarlet so long."

Snake Eyes moved suddenly, standing between Tunnel Rat and the doorway. He shook his head no.

"Come on, Snake Eyes," said Duke. "It's been an hour and a half. The woman she's meeting is a mercenary and self-admitted thief. Just because we haven't heard anything doesn't mean she's not in trouble."

The masked man crossed arms in front of his chest, making it clear he had no intention of moving.

"Easy, Duke, let's just let Scarlet handle this," said Roadblock. "She said she could handle this. Do you trust her or not?"

"Of course I trust her," said Duke. "But... "

"Then sit down and shuffle the cards. Tell you what, this time we'll play crazy eights."

* * *

Megan mentally guided the Ship into the hidden hanger in Mount Justice, then left it in sleep mode while she went looking for the others. She discovered Red Tornado and Robin busy in the briefing room, using the room's holographic projector. Letters, numbers, and symbols floated and danced in mid-air. The Boy Wonder was busy typing at a computer console, while cables ran from a second console and plugged into an opening in Red Tornado's chest.

"Are you still working on the Cobra information?" Megan asked.

"I only had time to download part of the Cobra shipping database," Robin explained. "I'm trying to reconstruct what information the renegades got, but the data is very fragmented."

Megan pointedat a group of dancing numbers, then over to another set of apparently unrelated symbols. 'I think those numbers belong over here."

"Don't be ridiculous, there's no way the numbers would fit. The format is completely different." Robin complained.  
"Yes, but if you go through a Lindberg transformation..."

Red Tornado sent the necessary commands to the computer. The grid of numbers Megan indicated swirled, changing format, then slotted perfectly with the set of symbols.

"Interesting," Red Tornado reported. "It appears Miss Martian is correct. I believe we can now decode the block of information that was originally downloaded from the Cobra Shipping Records. It appears to be an address."

"What's the address?" Robin asked eagerly.

"Strange," said Red Tornado. "The data is anomalous in nature. Why would a food distribution warehouse for a grocery store chain be delivering food directly to a munitions storage center, and why would the renegade soldiers be interested in it?

"That's definitely not -omalous," said Robin. "Thanks, Megan."

"So not the drama." Megan said. She was completely unaware she was copying Kim, especially as the redhead had never uttered the phrase in her presence.

"I will contact Batman immediately to see if he wants us to investigate this further," Red Tornado said.

* * *

CADMUS-II SATELITE RESEARCH FACILITY  
AKA M.A.R.S. RESEARCH MUNITIONS STORAGE FACILITY

Dr. Mindbender stood over his computer console, rubbing his hands. He was wearing a labcoat and a silver metal headset, and he was doing what he loved best; gloating.

"Soon, my project will be complete! Once I finish incorporating the information so generously 'donated' by STAR Labs about the Amazo android, I will incorporate Amazo's power-copying ability into a new generation of Neo-Vipers! I will have created Neo-SUPER-Vipers!"

"I know, Dr. Bender," The computerized voice came from the headset. "I hear everything you hear."

"Why did I create you?"

"Because of your human, fallible memory. Remember?" The headset made a buzzing sound. "I just wish you hadn't installed my optic sensors on the back of your head. I've seen things no decent AI should ever have to see. You could at least take me off before you go to the bathroom."

"Oh, be quiet!" Dr. Bender snapped. "Just be glad I didn't give you olfactory sensors!"

"Yeah, I must be the only one who thinks your shit doesn't stink."

"BE QUIET!"

* * *

Kim was sitting in Bueno Nacho, staring into her soda. Her thoughts were preoccupied with Megan; fortunately Ron was still busy with his family so she could sit in silence.

Monique finished getting her dinner tray. She saw Kim sitting alone and walked over. "Hey, GF. So, you and the Martian girl?"

"No!" Kim blurted out. "We didn't kiss or anything! There's nothing between us!"

Monique frowned. "Kim?"

"Ok, so maybe we kissed," Kim admitted in a low tone. "But it was just a kiss between friends, you know? Nothing more! Anything else was just because she's a telepath, and there's nothing between us."

"Whoa there, girlfriend." said Monique. "Slow down."

"Hello, Kim!" Kim smacked herself on the forehead, once again aping Megan without realizing it, "I am SUCH a ditz!"

Monique set down in the booth, setting her tray aside. "Come on, Girl, dish."

* * *

~What happened, niece?~ One nice thing about them both being Martians was the Martian Manhunter could communicate with his niece even when the two were separated. With his greater experience and range he could even communicate now, while he was in the orbiting Watchtower and she down in Mount Justice. It was especially nice now, given his current situation.

Batman had felt it necesary to inform the League about his suspissions about Cobra Industries. Wonder Woman had then felt it necessary to explain why the League had to be careful about investigating an apparently legitimate mega-corporation, even though she'd given what was virtually the same speech every time the League had investigated any other mega-corporation, even ones like Luther Corp. From experience, Martian Manhunter knew her speech would last at least another twenty-three minutes and fourteen seconds.

~I _grokked_ with a human~ replied Megan.

The Martian Manhunter's eyeridges raised in surprise. ~You _grokked_?~ he asked, his mental voice communicating shock.

~Yes. With Kim Possible, when we kissed. It was... nice~

~This information... is very surprising~ Martian Manhunter said, not sure how to react. He had only _grokked_ twice in his life, and both times it had been with other Martians. M'gann was at an age where she would have been too young to safely _grok_, even with another of their kind. With a human, there was no way of knowing what the effects might be. ~But as long as it was just once, there should be no permanent effects.~ He paused. ~It WAS just once, yes?~

~Y-yes~ thought Megan, not sure if the other two kisses counted. There had been a degree of sharing with all the kisses, but only the second kiss had been a full _grokking_.

Martian Manhunter felt an armored boot kicking him gently in the shin. He glanced to his side to see Batman, apparently busy listening to Wonder Woman. He quickly shifted to include Batman in the mental link. ~Yes, Batman?~

~I don't mind if you telepathically gossip during these meetings, but you need to at least look like you're paying attention~ Batman thought. ~Who are you thinking to, anyway? It can't be Aquaman, he's not showing any signs of it.~

~My niece. There has been a development involving her and Kim Possible.~

~Tell me more later. For now, just put on your 'interested face'~

* * *

Tunnel Rat tensed. He was down to one card, the Six of Clubs. If he could just get rid of this card, he could finally win one of these card games.

Snake Eyes looked down at the two cards in his hands. He took the Six of Hearts and was laying it down on the discard pile. Just as the card was about to touch down, there was a knocking on the van door.

Roadblock reached out for the van door and slid it open, to reveal Scarlet and Shego standing outside the van.

"Aww, man, you couldn't have taken just one more minute?" Tunnel Rat complained.

"No more time for cards," said Duke, dropping his hand of three cards. "What's the word?"

"I'm in," said Shego. "But if we're going to do this, we do it MY way. That means planning, stealth, and split-second timing."

* * *

"I've spoken with the rest of the League," said Batman, speaking over the video communicator to the Young Justice team. "They've approved the mission for you to investigate the address retrieved from the Shop Smart and Save distribution warehouse computer. But you'll do it MY way. That means planning, stealth, and split-second timing."


	7. Getting Ready

It's time to play spot the references:

Chris Dee's Cat-Tales

Mission Impossible

Monty Pthon and the Quest for the Holy Grail.

Peter's Evil Warlord's List

* * *

"Two more things," Batman said over the com link. "First, should you or any of your team be caught or captured, the League will disavow any knowledge of your actions. Second, Wonder Woman will be coming to meet with you tomorrow before the mission to discuss the importance of preserving the League's image."

"Oh, more bad news," said Robin. "A visit from the one woman who can talk longer then Superman. "

"Hey, at least I'll finally get to see the 'Wonder Twins' in person!" said Kid Flash, reaching down to his chest and miming having giant... tracts of land.

Black Canary reached out, slapping both boys on the back of their heads. "Show respect!" she ordered. "Yes, Wonder Woman has her flaws... and assets. But of all the original League members, she's the one who has voluntarily given up the most to be where she is now."

"Hey!" said Robin, rubbing the back of the head. "I get that she dropped the whole 'Princess of the Amazons' things to be a hero, but..."

"It's not just that," Batman's voice interjected. "On Themyscira she had a life of near-perfect safety and ease. Here in what she calls 'Men's World', she is in constant danger. Just as Superman has his weakness to Kryptonite, Wonder Woman has her own special weakness."

"Oh? What is it?" asked Kid Flash, curious.

"That's for her to decide if and when you get to know," Batman said. "As much as I may disagree with her on some issues, you WILL listen to her like you would listen to me. Is that understood?"

"Yes" "Yes sir." "Yeah." "Of course" "Whatever."

"Superboy,". Picking out the one who hadn't responded affirmatively, Batman managed to load a lecture's worth of reproach into a single name.

"Yes, I'll listen to her," said Superboy. "Happy?"

"Batman out."

Robin waited for the click which signaled the comlink connection closed, then turned to Superboy. "He's Batman. He's NEVER happy."

"Aqualad, you probably have the most experience with what royalty expects when they visit somewhere," said Black Canary. "What do we need to do?"

"First, that this place needs to be cleaned up," said Kaldur. "Also, that we are dressed appropriately."

"Am I going to need a tux?" joked Wally.

"That will not be necessary," said Kaldur seriously. "Your normal uniform as Kid Flash will be fine. However, you should make sure it is clean and neat." He turned to Superboy. "You, on the other hand..."

"I told you, I don't wear tights," the young clone held up his hands. He pointed at his T-Shirt with the bright red S on the front. "This is who I am. And the sooner people realize I'm here to stay, the better."

"He's not saying you have to change who you are or wear tights. Just... dress up a little," said Megan, hastily. "Come on, we can go shopping for some new clothes after dinner. It'll be fun."

Kid Flash shuddered. "Clothes shopping? Count me out!"

"Seconded," added Robin.

"Very well," said Red Tornado, from where he had been standing in the background. "Then while Superboy and M'gann are out shopping, you two can help me clean up the place."

"I will assist as well," said Kaldur. "I would not wish the Princess to think that we are ALL slobs." He glanced at Wally.

* * *

"This is only the second time I've gone clothes shopping with someone besides my uncle," Megan said.

"Um... don't you have to watch the road?" Superboy asked, nervously. For someone who was close to being physically indestructible, he was a nervous car passenger.

"Silly," said Megan. "It may look like a Sloth, but it's still my Ship." She lifted her hands from the steering wheel and the car continued driving smoothly forward.

"I don't mind flying, but...," Superboy jerked as Ship swerved in front of an eighteen-wheeler truck so close the two vehicles almost touched.

"Trust me, we're fine," Megan assured. She glanced at the rear-view mirror Ship had created as part of its 'disguise'. She asked, "Does my hair look all right?"

"Looks fine," said Superboy. "It's the rest of you that's taking getting used to."

Megan had, once again, morphed her skin to more closely resemble Humans and Kryptonians. "I figured this is less likely to get me noticed at the mall," Megan explained.

Once at the Snug Harbor Shopping Mall, Megan led an apathetic Superboy into a clothing store.

"What's the big deal?" Superboy demanded. "So she's a League member. A T-shirt and jeans was good enough for Batman."

"Yeah, but... Wonder Woman's a princess," Megan said. "You want to look nice for a princess, right?"

"It's just a political rank, right?" Superboy asked. "A non-ruling female member of a reigning family."

"I suppose, but... there's a lot of romanticism about princesses. They're supposed to be beautiful and nice and regal," said Megan.

Superboy shrugged, looking around the racks. Megan dove in and soon came back, holding two pairs of dress slacks, one pair black and the other blue.

"Not blue," Superboy said, quickly reaching for the other pair of pants. "Black is fine."

"There's a changing room over...," Megan started to say, but Superboy suddenly spun around.

In a fraction of a second, he had slipped out of the jeans and was now wearing the black slacks. "These fit ok."

"I can see that," Megan said. "But you need to be careful..."

"No one was watching," Superboy interrupted her. "Come on, I want to get this shopping trip over with."

Megan picked out a pair of dress shoes, then a white button-up shirt for Superboy to try on. Fortunately, one part of learning to be a shape-shifter was to learn how to know what a person's measurements were just from looking at her or him.

Superboy examined himself in the mirror, frowning. The formal shirt, slacks, and shoes fit perfectly except that the ends of the long-sleeves gaped open. He examined the end of the sleeves, then marched over to a salesclerk.

"May I help you?"

"What's wrong with this shirt?" Superboy demanded. "The sleeves don't have any buttons."

"Oh... you'll need a pair of cufflinks for that," the saleswoman explained. She led Superboy and Megan over to a jewelry counter, taking out a display case of assorted cufflinks. "You just pick out a pair and put them in place to hold the cuffs closed."

Superboy reached out, pointing to a gold and black onyx pair of cufflinks, sporting the world famous Superman 'S' Sigil in gold. "I'll take those." he said.

"Are you sure? You haven't looked at all of the others...," the woman asked.

"I'm sure."

* * *

The two drove back toward Mount Justice, Superboy once more dressed in his shirt and jeans. "May I ask you something?" Megan asked.

"Go ahead."

"I'm not peaking in your mind or anything...," Megan said hastily. "I know you don't want to wear tights or a cape. If you don't want to look like Superman, why do you wear the S?"

"It's not an S," Superboy said. "Well, not an Earth S. Part of the 'download' Cadmus gave me included everything they knew about Superman's home planet, Krypton." He reached out, touching the front of his shirt. "Humans... English-speaking especially.. only see what they recognize, the S. But the 'Diamond-S' is a Kryptonian sigil, the symbol of Superman's family lineage. Like a monogram or crest. His father, and his father's father, and so on, all wore this symbol. Proudly from what I understand..."

Superboy's face hardened, "I want that son of a bitch to know, every time he looks at me, that we ARE related whether he likes it or not."

"I'm sure Superman's father would be proud of you," offered Megan. "I mean, you're a hero, right? Who wouldn't be proud to have another hero in the family?"

"Superman."

Megan squirmed nervously. "Um... we're far enough away to switch to flight mode," she said. Ship transformed, flying up into the sky as it expanded out to its normal form. "Superman will come around. Eventually."

Superboy just snorted.

* * *

Kaldur gestured, the tattoos on his arms glowing brightly. A wave of water washed over the stone floor, leaving it sparkling clean.

"Wow, you're better than a mop," said Kid Flash, admiringly. He and Robin had swept and organized everything, leaving Kaldur to use his hydro-kinetic powers to do the final wash-up.

"We're home!" Megan said, walking in. "Wow, this place looks great." Superboy followed, carrying two bags. In addition to the cufflinks, dress shirt, and slacks, he had also purchased a black leather jacket.

"Yeah, we did a great job cleaning up," said Kid Flash. "You'll never guess what I found in Robin's room."

"Hey, I told you to stay out of there!" Robin snapped.

"He's got a circus poster hanging up on one wall," Kid Flash went on, ignoring the protest. "I'll bet growing up he was one of those kids who wanted to run away and join the circus."

"That poster is none of your business! You had better not have touched anything in there!" Robin reached out, grabbing the front of the yellow speedster's shirt.

"Hey, chill out!" said Kid Flash.

"Calm down," Kaldur ordered. "Robin, this violation of your privacy will not occur again. Kid Flash, in the future, you will stay out of other people's rooms unless specifically invited, understood?"

"I was just doing a spot check," said Kid Flash. "You know, making sure everything is ok?"

"Everything appears to be in order," said Red Tornado. "I suggest you go to bed. Tomorrow is a big day. A meeting with Wonder Woman in the morning, and a storage facility to infiltrate in the evening."

* * *

"Ok, from what Scarlet has told me, speed is essential," Shego said. The Joes, including Snake Eyes, had relocated to a large, empty warehouse. Shego had brought in a table and a set of blueprints for the M.A.R.S. Facility. "If Cobra discovers you know where this facility is, they're going to move it. The grounds are heavily secured, with a wide range of security systems. Fortunately, like most security, they've made the mistake of thinking only two-dimensionally. The two most vulnerable areas are below and above."

She took out a second set of schematics, laying it out. "The facility is located at the site of an old Air Force base. It was built on a network of tunnels for drainage and storage. "

"How did you get all this intel?" Tunnel Rat asked, admiringly. "When I was tunnel-spelunking in New York, I always had to make my own maps."

"HenchCo has a department that can provide copies of blueprints for almost any facility." Shego explained. "It can be expensive, but prior planning prevents piss poor performance. However, there's one thing you have to remember when dealing with anything with blueprints. The map isn't the territory."

Duke blinked in confusion. "Um..."

"Blueprints aren't always accurate. Sometimes deliberately, sometimes just because the company has made changes to a building and didn't bother to update the records." Shego explained. "The military is fairly good about being ana... er, detail-oriented, so the Air force tunnel map is probably accurate. The warehouse blueprints may not be. We'll need to be ready to improvise once we're inside."

"So we going to be getting inside though the tunnels?" Tunnel Rat asked. "Sweet."

"Not all of us," said Shego, laying out a third paper sheet. This one showed a road map, with the M.A.R.S. Facility circled and a red X drawn near it. "The data shows that Cobra Industries delivers weekly, and Scarlet told me about Coyote's little camouflage trick. Roadblock, you're going to live up to your nickname and stop the real supply truck here." She reached out, pointing at the X. "Then you and Duke will drive to the facility, pretending to be the regular delivery guys. Tunnel Rat, Scarlet, and I will come up from beneath."

"You really know how to show a girl a good time," Scarlet said sarcastically. "What about Snake Eyes?"

"He's a ninja," Shego said, looking up at the silent figure. "I figure he can get in however he wants."

Snake Eyes hands moved rapidly, too fast for the other Joes to try to read. "Yes," said Scarlet. "I told you, I trust her. I'll be as safe going with her on this mission as I would be going with you."

Snake Eyes nodded, accepting her judgement, then pointed at the spot on the blueprints showing the road in.

"Ok, so its two teams of three," said Shego. "We're going to stay up late to make sure we ALL have these schematics memorized, then sleep in late so we're fresh for the assault.".

"Hey, how come Duke and I have to study the sewer maps if we're going to be in the Coyote?" Roadblock complained.

"Because we ALL might have to exfiltrate that way, if something goes wrong," said Shego. "Or provide aid and back-up to one of the other teams. Need to be ready to improvise, remember? No plan survives first contact with the enemy, or don't they teach that in the Army any more?"

"Oh, we know that saying," said Roadblock. "It's because we're always the enemy."

* * *

Dr. Mindbender examined the tank, one of six. In each tank a vaguely humanoid figure floated inside a green suspension fluid.

"Another twenty-six point two hours until the prototype Neo-Super-Vipers are ready," his metal headset reported. "You're not worried about the renegade military unit which destroyed your first facility?"

"Of course not," snapped Dr. Mindbender. "Even if they DID manage to uncover our location, it would take them more then two days to figure out a way in. By that time my babies will be ready, and we'll have a second batch in the tanks. Within a week, we'll have a squad of super-powered genetic creations, ready to make those ordinary-Joes into something looking like sloppy-Joes! And even if they do attack early, I always have my... insurance policy." He reached into his coat, pulling out a hypospray with a vial already loaded into it, a handwritten label reading 'Project Blockbuster'. He threw his head back, laughing maniacally.

"I hope you're not planning on turning into a giant snake." his headset said. "That never helps."


	8. Learning the Moves

Author's note: A big thank you to (almost) everyone who has posted comments. I appreciate the corrections and the compliments.

Special 'hi' to Aceina, whose comment from chapter 7 inspired this chapter's intro scene.

Thanks to LoveRobin for beta-reading an early draft and suggestions, and to Pesterfield for corrections.

As always, positive feedback greatly appreciated.

X X X X X

Wally, Ronin, Kaldur, and Megan were gathered in the entry lounge, obviously eager to welcome the Amazonian Princess. Superboy stood slumped against a wall, while Red Tornado stood stoically, with no sign of emotion.

"Recognized. Wonder Woman. D – 1." The synthesized voice of the teleporter announced as its yellow energy field appeared. Out of it stepped Wonder Woman, raven-haired tresses held back by her gold tiara.

"Greetings, Wonder Woman," Red Tornado said, calmly.

Wonder Woman stepped forward, looking around. "I'm pleased to meet all of you," she said. "The first thing I want to do is to let you know you'll be bringing someone new on the assignment. This is Ben Tennyson." She stepped aside, letting the Young Justice team see a young, dark haired teenager. "He'll be replacing Kid Flash for this mission."

"WHAT?" Kid Flash asked, in shock. "Why would you want to replace me?"

Looking at him disdainfully, she replied, "There have been... issues... about your non-professionalism,"

"I'm professional! What makes you say that I'm not?"

"For starters, you came here just wearing your underwear."

"What?" Kid Flash looked down in shock. Instead of his yellow speedster garb, he was clad in just a pair of bright orange 'Aquaman' boxer shorts.

"How dare you disrespect my king this way!" Kaldur snarled. He pulled out one of the rods from his backpack, forming a water whip. "For that you will pay!"

"Hey, wait, I can explain!" Kid Flash said, backing up. "Oh, man, this is such a nightmare..."

Kid Flash jerked up in bed, his heart racing like a humming bird's. He looked around the room, and took a deep sigh of relief. "Man, I gotta lay off those jalapeno poppers before going to bed." he muttered, glancing at the alarm clock. Deciding there was no point in going back to sleep, he got up to get ready for the day.

An hour later Kid Flash walked to the kitchen, dressed in his yellow and red costume with the wingtips of his headpiece freshly shined. Robin, Kaldur, and Megan were already around the kitchen table. Robin and Kaldur were also wearing their costumes. Megan was busy cooking, dressed in a white dress with a red X on the front.

"Good morning, Wally," Megan greeted. Unlike the others, she actually liked cooking and so usually ended up doing most of it. In return, the rest of Young Justice handled the other chores. "Scrambled eggs?"

"Yes please," Wally said, sitting down at the table.

"Morning," Superboy walking in. He was dressed in the shirt and slacks, busy fiddling with the cuff links. He was actually standing up straight, instead of his usual hunched-over slouch.

"Lookin' good!" Kid Flash said, flashing a big thumbs-up. "All ready for our date with Wonder Woman?"

"I hope that you are all ready," said Red Tornado. "She will be here in an hour."

X X X

The five heroes were gathered around the entrance lounge when the teleporter activated.

"Recognized. Wonder Woman. D – 1." The synthesized voice of the teleporter announced as its yellow energy field appeared. Out of it stepped Wonder Woman, raven-haired tresses held back by her gold tiara.

"Greetings, Wonder Woman," Red Tornado said, calmly.

"Gosh, this is an honor to meet you!" said Megan, stepping forward. She reached out to shake Wonder Woman's hand, the silver bracer on her arm gleaming in the cavern's halogen lights.

"I'm pleased to meet you, M'gaan," Wonder Woman said, pronouncing the Martian name carefully. "And please, call me Diana."

"Oh, I couldn't," returned the green girl, blushing. "But please, call me Megan. It sounds more Earth-like."

Kid Flash leaned toward Robin. "Looks like she and Megan are getting along. Hey, you think its true what they say about what Amazons do on their island?" he whispered, nudging Robin with his elbow.

"I hope, for your sake, you were talking about the stories where we cut off one breast to help with archery," said Wonder Woman, coldly.

Kid Flash _eeped._

Wonder Woman reached up, tapping one of her earlobes. "Among other gifts, I have enhanced hearing," she explained. "To be clear, that story is untrue. My Sisters would only bind their breasts for battle. All but for Sister Amida, who lost one of hers during a particularly brutal... 'torture'... session at the hands of some of the men nominally under Hercules. His only saving grace was the nature of the swift reprisals he visited upon them in return." Her voice turned pointedly sugary, "Now then... what was it you were asking about Amazons?"

"Um..."

"You'll have to forgive Kid Flash," said Robin. "With the fastest feet in the world, no one can get a foot in his mouth faster than Wally here."

"We are glad to have you here," Kaldur stepped in to rescue some decorum. "Come, we can talk more in the lounge."

"Please be another nightmare...," Wally muttered to himself, pinching his arm. He winced. Nope; this was reality.

"When Batman suggested forming this team I was one of the League who spoke up against it," Wonder Woman spoke frankly. "Unlike others, it was not because I had any doubts about your abilities. You are young, but all of you have the hearts of champions. What I was uncomfortable with, both then and now, is the idea of a team established to act in the shadows."

Wonder Woman reached down, taking her golden lariat from where it was hooked to her belt, and held it up. "I have always considered myself a champion of truth, more than anything. And truth should always be spoken clearly. Batman convinced me that, unfortunately, Men's World is not as black and white as I wish it to be. The foes of truth and justice hide behind a network of lies. Sometimes the weapon to fight evil is a sword. Sometimes it's a knife."

"Does this have a point?" demanded Superboy.

"Yes," said Wonder Woman. "I have accepted with reservations the need for us to have a team which can act without the world knowing about it. But just because you act in secrecy from the world, does not mean you act in secrecy from _me_. Tonight, you are going to investigate a M.A.R.S. facility, based on speculation. M.A.R.S. employs over a hundred thousand people nation wide. Even if M.A.R.S. is hiding something, many of those people are hardworking, innocent civilians. If you harm a single hair on one of their heads, you WILL deal with me. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am," said Robin, nodding, as did the rest of the team.

"Good," said Diana, putting the lasso back to her side. "The rest of you are dismissed. Superboy, I want to speak with you alone."

"Oooh, in trouble with the...," Kid Flash started to say. He wisely shut up when both Diana and Superboy turned and glared at him.

"Come on," said Robin, pulling Kid Flash out of the lounge as he followed Megan. Kaldur closed the doors behind him, leaving the Princess and super clone alone.

X X X

"What's this about?" Superboy demanded.

"Black Canary says you're doing well in her classes," Wonder Woman commended. "But there was one thing you had said to her that was correct."

"Which one?" asked Superboy.

"There are certain things about fighting that you need to learn from a fellow super-strengther." Wonder Woman said. "How to use your power... and when not to use your full power."

"Look, no offense...," said Superboy. "But why doesn't Superman come train me himself?"

"Superman is reacting badly to this situation." Something about the way she admitted that caught the boy's attention. "However, that doesn't mean you have to descend to his level. There are three power-houses in the league. Superman, Martian Manhunter, and me. Superman has the edge in strength and speed. Manhunter can change density and shape shift. But I have something they don't."

"Breasts?"

The young super clone spun over the conference table, just clearing the far edge and bouncing amid a clattering of chairs, a couple bent by his alien density. Shaking his head, he glanced at the Amazon. Still standing where she had been with one hip cocked, cooly examining the nails of the hand which delivered the slap with blinding speed and power, she remained the epitome of tall, classic femininity.

"Warrior training," Wonder Woman stated as if nothing had happened. "That is something neither of them have. It provides me an edge over even Superman. Yet it's something I can give you; IF you're willing to accept it."

Rubbing a jaw, not so much because it hurt, but in surprise of the momentary stinging sensation he'd felt. "How is this different from what Black Canary is teaching us?"

"Black Canary is teaching you... all of you... how to use _human level_ strength to overcome stronger opponents. Some of it, but not all of it, can be scaled up. With her help, you can go from good to great. However there are things which even strength fails at. Strong as I am, in a blow-for-blow match against Kryptonian muscles I'd not last long. Which is where warrior prowess and experience comes in. I can teach you the first, the latter will come in time. With my help, you can TRULY be super. Maybe even better than Superman."

More than the rest, it was the last line which set him grinning. "When can we get started?"

"So, wait... we do all that work, she gives a speech, and that's it?" complained Wally.

"Dude, Bats has told me her lectures can go for hours," said Robin. "Be glad she saved most of it for Superboy. Poor kid is probably getting his ear talked off."

Wonder Woman's left bracer clanged as Superboy's fist slammed into it. He grunted, trying to slam his other fist into her stomach. This time she spun aside, leg lashing out in a hook and sweeping him off his feet. She followed through with a hand to his chest, driving him solidly to the floor.

"How did I avoid that?" she asked.

"By being fast like a freak?" Superboy said, standing up.

"No," Wonder Woman shook her head. "Because you always attack the same way, swinging from the shoulder like you're chopping wood. A true warrior uses her entire body, but never extends herself further then she needs to."

"What do you suggest?"

"Have you ever heard of _Fa jin?_ Martial artists use it to generate tremendous force at very close distances." Wonder Woman gestured, "Hold out your hand, palm out, fingers up." She waited until he complied. "Now spread your legs and brace yourself."

Wonder Woman reached out, till her fingertips were touching Superboy's palm. She pulled her fingers back slightly, curling them up into a fist. She then drove it forward, from just about an inch away. Despite being braced, Superboy swayed back.

"When you pull your arm back all the way...," Wonder Woman demonstrated. "You telegraph your move. You strike closer, the opponent has much less time to react. But if you know how, you can hit with more then enough force to subdue almost any opponent."

"That's not the way Superman fights."

"But you're not Superman. You can be better."

"OK," said Superboy, taking a deep breath. "Show me how to do that... jin jin stuff."

"_Fa jin._ Explosive power."

~Kim Possible?~

Kim froze. She was in the middle of the backyard , in the middle of a stretching exercise. ~Megan?~ She thought.

~Yes. Wow! It worked! I wasn't sure if I could reach you at this range!~ Megan felt a thrill of excitement. The only one she had ever been able to talk to this far away before had been her uncle, when he'd been deliberately helping augment the channel. ~Are you busy?~

~No, just exercising~ Kim thought. ~I don't know how it is with Martians, but humans need to practice regularly to keep in shape~

~Black Canary is teaching us some things to practice, to help us keep in shape and be better fighters. Is that what you're doing?~

~Sort of~ Kim admitted. ~Most of it is about being flexible. One of my senseis called it 'flow like water'~

~May I see?~

~Um... what do you mean by see?~

~With your permission, I'll deepen the link~ Megan explained. ~I'll be able to 'feel' how your body is moving~

~Um... OK~

Kim felt a weird sensation, as if a faint electrical shock had just traveled through her entire body.

~OK, I'm ready~ Megan thought.

Kim crouched low. She started slowly, moving and twisting her body through several steps of her _kata_. At no time did she stop, her entire body continually in motion. She quickly began speeding up, as she sensed Megan's growing interest.

~How do these 'moves' help in a fight?~ Megan asked.

~Well, picture someone attacking me~ Kim thought, then blinked in surprise. She could see a translucent, humanoid figure in front of her.

~Like that?~ Megan asked.

~Um, yeah~ said Kim. The figure stepped forward, throwing a punch. Kim responded reflexively, body dipping and sliding to the side, completely avoiding the punch. Her left hands reached out, clutching at the illusionary sleeve. She could not feel anything, but the imaginary figure moved, if a little lagging, as she tugged on the arm, pulling it forward. Her right hand shot out, slamming at the solar plexus as she continued to twist and roll, doing a body throw which sent the figure silently slamming against the ground.

~That's amazing!~ Megan thought.

~Hey... can you simulate more of these?~ Kim thought. ~It's kind of boring, just practicing without any opponents.~

~Sure~ Several more of the illusionary figures appeared. ~What do you want them to do?~

~Attack,~ Kim thought. As the figures moved forward, Kim flowed toward them, meeting them head on.

Megan drew on Kim's own memories of how goons attacked, simulating the fighters. As the link strengthened the illusions took on more 'density', a deeper mental tactile feedback causing the lag to virtually disappear. Remotely the Martian girl studied how the redhead moved. It was almost more dance than fighting; the chief thing seeming to be that every movement flowed into the next one. Most of the power came from the attackers themselves; Kim simply re-channeling and redirecting, causing an opponent to hurt himself. The direct blows Kim employed were always to stun or disorientate. An attacker would soon learn that trying to further attack would only cause him pain.

"Hey, what's Megan doing?" Kid Flash asked.

"Some sort of meditation ritual, I guess," Robin said. "She's just sitting there. I'm going to go hit the gym."

"I believe I will join you," said Kaldur. "Wally?"

"Hey, if Megan can veg out, so can I. I've got some movies to watch on fast forward."


End file.
